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In a sense this proof of the existence of God is similar to the mathematical proofs based on deriving a contradiction of something is not true.  Accepting the definition of God, as most would, while then denying that God exists leads to a contradiction as existence is a necessary element of perfection in this context.

In a sense this proof of the existence of God is similar to the mathematical proofs based on deriving a contradiction of something is not true.  Accepting the definition of God, as most would, while then denying that God exists leads to a contradiction as existence is a necessary element of perfection in this context.

==Recent Ontological Arguments==

==Recent Ontological Arguments==

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states the following regarding recent developments in ontological arguments for the existence of God:

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states the following regarding recent developments in ontological arguments for the existence of God:

{{cquote|In more recent times, [[Kurt Gödel]], Charles Hartshorne, Norman Malcolm and [[Alvin Plantinga]] have all presented much-discussed ontological arguments which bear interesting connections to the earlier arguments of St. Anselm, [[Rene Descartes|Descartes]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]]. Of these, the most interesting are those of Gödel and Plantinga; in these cases, however, it is unclear whether we should really say that these authors claim that the arguments are proofs of the existence of God.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/</ref>}}

{{cquote|In more recent times, [[Kurt Gödel]], Charles Hartshorne, Norman Malcolm and [[Alvin Plantinga]] have all presented much-discussed ontological arguments which bear interesting connections to the earlier arguments of St. Anselm, [[Rene Descartes|Descartes]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]]. Of these, the most interesting are those of Gödel and Plantinga; in these cases, however, it is unclear whether we should really say that these authors claim that the arguments are proofs of the existence of God.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/</ref>}}