EURO ST 10 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Ontological Argument, Merchant Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli
Document Summary
Lecture - ontological proof - existence of god. * curiosity of existence of a perfect being. The ontological proof for the existence of god. I doubt everything but cannot doubt my thinking. So i"ll begin by thinking about my thoughts. Among them, i find thoughts like the most perfect being . The most perfect being, by definition, cannot be lacking in any quality. Hence, the most perfect being cannot lack existence. Thus, the most perfect being exists, indeed, my thinking proves that it necessarily exists! But the key issue for us is why, in the mid-17th century, a philosopher would be so concerned with rationally and with absolute certainty demonstrating the necessity of belief in god. Anyone, using reason, must share this conclusion. Furthermore, if this most perfect being exists (and descartes thinks we now can"t deny it because it is proven rationally), then we don"t have to worry about that.
