Existence Of God
Which of the three Classical Arguments for the existence of God is strongest, in your view, and which is weakest? Why?
Since the beginning of time, mankind as a whole has always had an innate belief in a higher being, whether it be karma, fate or in the case of this essay, God. From the Ancient Greeks' mythological Gods to the current Creationist movement in America, the idea and belief in God has not faltered over time, but why? Why do so many people believe in something of which they have no concrete proof? In reality, I believe that faith in God has nothing to do with having proof of his existence; it is about intimate, deep and spiritual feelings that someone is either born with or gains through life experiences.
Nevertheless, for thousands of years philosophers have been captivated by the prospect of answering the infamous question, does God exist?' Plato and Aristotle started off the quest for the answer to this question, followed by nearly every philosopher that came after them, including Descartes, St Anselm, St Thomas Aquinas and Ibn Rushd to name but a few. Every philosopher has presented new ideas and theories but fundamentally they all fall under three main headings; the ontological, teleological and cosmological arguments. Each of these puts forward its own argument for the existence of God, and in this essay I will be evaluating their strengths and weakness in order to discover which one is the strongest and which is the weakest.
The ontological argument for the existence of God was introduced by St Anselm who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. He wanted to find a proof for the existence of God that was solely based on logic and that could inspire non-believers without the need for scriptures or the Bible. He believed that from the very definition of God, he could prove his existence. In the book entitled Proslogion', he begins his proof by defining God as
something which nothing greater can be...
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