Introduction : ontological arguments in focus / Graham Oppy -- Anselm / Peter Millican -- Aquinas / Brian Leftow -- Descartes / Lawrence Nolan -- Leibniz / Maria Rosa Antognazza -- Kant / Lawrence Pasternack -- Hegel / Michael Inwood -- Gödel / Alexander Pruss -- Lewis / Michael J. Almeida -- Plantinga / Joshua Rasmussen -- Tichý / Graham Oddie -- Conceivability and possibility / Joshua Spencer -- Begging the question / Peter van Inwagen -- Characterisation, existence and necessity / Graham Priest.
Summary:
Ontological arguments are one of the main classes of arguments for the existence of God, and have been influential from the Middle Ages right up until our own time. This accessible volume offers a comprehensive survey and assessment of them starting with a sequence of chapters charting their history - from Anselm and Aquinas, via Descartes, Leibniz, Kant and Hegel, to Goedel, Plantinga, Lewis and Tichy. This is followed by chapters on the most important topics to have emerged in the discussion of ontological arguments: the relationship between conceivability and possibility, the charge that ontological arguments beg the question, and the nature of existence. The volume as a whole shows clearly how these arguments emerged and developed, how we should think about them, and why they remain important today.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.