PHI 107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Reductio Ad Absurdum, Ontological Argument, Omnibenevolence

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 107
• Professor: Van Gulick

Document Summary

God is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and all good (omnibenevolent) Aposteriori propositions can only be known to be true on the basis of experience (science always uses this) Apriori propositions can be known independently of experience; knowledge of their truth does not depend on experience, at least not in any evidential or logical sense (math uses this) Aims to prove the existence of god from purely apriori premises including the definition of god (tries to prove like a geometry proof) Reductio ad absurdum (raa)--argument that argues backwards, produces contradiction. To prove a, we assume the opposite (not a) and show that not a leads to a contradiction (b and not b), either on its own or with other premises that you accept as true. Argument: p: god is the greatest conceivable being, challenge: does the notion of greatest conceivable thing or greatest possible thing exist, p: god exists in the mind.