PHIL 101 Lecture Notes - Reductio Ad Absurdum, Modus Tollens, Ontological Argument
Document Summary
Guanilo"s criticism of anselm"s argument: is a form of a reductio ad absurdum argument (form of modus tollens) P1) if anselm"s argument is sound, then my perfect island argument is sound. P2) my p-island argument is not sound; it"s absurd: hence, anselm"s ontological argument is unsound. If the earth was flat, you could sail off the edge. Anselm: finite things, like islands, can"t be perfect. E-unicorn analogy: another objection to anselm"s ontological argument. But consider a new concept, which we can call an e-unicorn. An e-unicorn is by definition an existing unicorn. Does it follow from the idea of an e-unicorn that there are e-unicorns: certainly not. There"s a reason to believe in god even if all the other arguments fail. Expected value of action: (gain of outcome #1 x probability of outcome 1) + (gain of outcome #2 x probability of outcome 2) Ev of action #1: (100 000)x(1/1 000 000) + (-1)(999 999/1 000 000)
