Hellenistic Philosophy and Christianity - The Ontological Argument

The Ontological Argument

Anselm of Canterbury composed the ontological argument for the existence of God, which he believed to be irrefutable. In essence, he argued that because God is by definition the being than which no greater can be conceived, and it is more perfect to exist than not to exist, that conceiving God not to exist was not conceiving God at all – it was conceiving a being less than perfect, which would not be God. Therefore, the argument proceeded, God could not be conceived not to exist.

The ontological argument is a defining example of the fusion of Hebrew and Greek thought. Philosophical realism was the dominant philosophical school of Anselm's day, and stemmed from Platonism. According to Realism, and in contrast to Nominalism, things such as "green" and "big" were known as universals, which had a real existence in an abstract realm, as described by Plato. Accordingly, if a concept could be formed in the human mind, then it had a real existence in the abstract realm of the universals, apart from his imagination. In essence, if he could imagine God, God existed.

The ontological argument reflected the classical concept of "perfections". Size, intelligence, beauty, power, benevolence, and so forth – all these qualities are called perfections. What is more intelligent is more perfect as regards intelligence; what is more beautiful is more perfect as regards beauty; and so forth. Because existence was more perfect than non-existence, and God was by definition perfect, God existed by definition.

Hebrew thought, however, contains no reference to such presuppositions. The Platonic concepts of realism, perfections, and a God defined as infinite. This became incorporated into Greek medieval philosophy.