How to Outwit Aristotle: And 34 Other Really Interesting Uses of Philosophy by Peter Cave

Author:Peter Cave
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2012-08-01T23:00:00+00:00

The argument presents the concept of the greatest conceivable being as if that concept could be a contender for the greatest conceivable being (as represented in italics above). But, were there to exist the greatest conceivable being, then that being would be just what the concept is a concept of. Were mermaids to exist, then arguably they would be the items to which our concept of mermaid after all does apply. Our concept of mermaid is not a contender for being a mermaid.

Perhaps Anselm is not guilty of the above confusion. Perhaps he is merely asking us to reflect on what we grasp when we think about the greatest conceivable being. We ought to grasp that existence must belong to such a being – just as we grasp that seven must be a prime number. Yet we can now see another possible defect in the argument. Why assume that we can make sense of the concept of the ‘greatest conceivable being’? After all, we cannot make sense of the concept of the greatest number. Mention whatever number you want: we can always add another to make a larger number still.

And paradoxically so…

Paradoxically, if to be God is to be the greatest conceivable being, then arguably no one can be God. Of course, maybe there are better ways of understanding what it is to be God – and better arguments to show that he exists. Whatever the ways, paradoxes remain about his nature – and, some would say, it remains paradoxical that so many people can believe in something so paradoxical. But quite what it is that they believe, and why else they may believe, are uncovered in the next chapter.

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