The Modal Ontological Argument

the Center for philosophy of religion presents the modal ontological argument some stories could have been true even if they aren't like an elephant nits in Afghan other stories both could have been true and are true like Socrates drinks in Locke let's call volumes that contain the first kind possible books and let's call the possible book that contains all and only the true stories the actual book so if something appears in a possible book we learn it could have existed but if a golden dragon appears in a possible book that's not enough reason to believe it actually does exist should we think the same about God should we say sure God possibly exists but that's no good reason to think God actually exists Alvin Plantinga has argued that would be a mistake there is an important difference between the two examples for something to be divine it's not enough for it to be all-powerful all-knowing and perfectly good it can't even be possible for it not to be those ways similarly it couldn't not exist that is if it exists it would be what philosophers call a necessary being plant occur refers to a being who has these features as maximally great and those are high standards so when someone says sure God possibly exists we can represent this by imagining some possible book that says God exists but what follows from this well even though each possible book tells a different story they must agree about some things namely things that are necessary but remember that being God requires being maximally great which includes existing necessarily so if one possible book says that God exists and all possible books must agree about what is necessary then every possible book contains the claim that God exists and since the actual book is also possible book it says so too that is from the fact that God possibly exists it follows that God actually exists too of course we couldn't have reached that verdict if we weren't allowed to start with God's possibility if we started instead with the claim that God is impossible then none of the possible books would have reported that God exists but as Plante ago has shown it turns out that God unlike a Golden Dragon is either found in all of the possible books or in none of them so given the requirement that God is maximally great if God exists at all then unlike you or electrons or dogs or stars God is strictly either necessary or impossible surprisingly then merely demonstrating God's possibility would be proof enough that God really does exist to learn more about these ideas please visit planta k'v idios com

Channel: Center for Philosophy of Religion

Views: 39,844

Keywords: God, Theism, God's Existence, Atheism, Arguments for God, Logic, Alvin Plantinga, Modality, Possible Worlds

Id: tdAeNQmftzg

Length: 3min 25sec (205 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 09 2018