539
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 17:
Line 17: − [[Atheists]] tend to agree with the first premise defining God, and from that follows in a strong, apparently deductive fashion. Anselm's proof bypasses [[Hume's Fork]].+
No, they don't. The terms in which they describe God are usually highly offensive, for example Dawkins' "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction" rant.
== Criticism ==
== Criticism ==
Anselm's proof bypasses [[Hume's Fork]].
But Gaunilo, a contemporary of Anselm, played [[devil's advocate]] by using [[reductio ad absurdum]] and envisaged a 'lost, yet most perfect island'. Gaunilo argued that just because we can imagine this island does not mean it actually exists. Anselm responded by arguing that such an island is not instrinsically necessary to existence because the concept of no greater conceivable being existing would only apply to God, not to something tangible such as an island.
But Gaunilo, a contemporary of Anselm, played [[devil's advocate]] by using [[reductio ad absurdum]] and envisaged a 'lost, yet most perfect island'. Gaunilo argued that just because we can imagine this island does not mean it actually exists. Anselm responded by arguing that such an island is not instrinsically necessary to existence because the concept of no greater conceivable being existing would only apply to God, not to something tangible such as an island.