A Study on Descartes’ Ontological Argument
Ontological Argument can be dated back to the Middle Ages, when Scholasticism flourished and some scholastic philosophers made great efforts to support their belief with human reason, especially by proving the existence of God. Among these philosophers, St. Anselm was recorded as the first to put forward the Ontological Argument. From then on Ontological Argument has witnessed fierce controversy. Descartes is distinguished by his proof of the existence of God in Meditations on First Philosophy. He formulated his arguments in Meditation III and Meditation V. However, Ontological Argument and Descartes’ defense are not ultimately successful, which are refuted because Descartes cannot derive the existence of God from its existence and he cannot ensure the supreme being is God.
References
- Saint Anselm of Canterbury. Proslogion. In Medieval Philosophy, ed. Zhao Dunhua (2005), 765-757
- Nolan, Lawrence, "Descartes’ Ontological Argument", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL=<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/descartes-ontological/>
- Descartes, René ([1641] 2005). Meditations on First Philosophy. reprinted in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes (2005), Vol. II, 1-50
- Kant, Immanuel ([1781] 2000). Criticism of Pure Reason. Translated by Paul Guyer, Allen W. Wood(2000)