Introduction:

Anselm’s Ontological Argument is an argument that tries to prove the existence of God through pure reason, yet although the argument itself is valid and its premises are constructed in a way that the conclusion (ultimately, God exists) is guaranteed to be true, the soundness of the argument itself has raised many questions throughout history and has lead to many objections from many other philosophers (including me) to Anselm’s Ontological Argument. However before I divulge into my own objections and criticisms of Anselm’s Ontological Argument, it is essential to explain the arguments and its premises first, along with why Anselm himself believed his argument/premises to be true and irrefutable.

Anselm’s Ontological Argument and why Anselm believed in his premises:

 Anselm’s argument follows these premises:

1. Assume God, a being of which no greater can be conceived, doesn’t exist
2. If god doesn’t exist then I can conceive of a being that is greater than God, a being who has God’s attributes but who actually exists (call this B)
3. But then B would be greater than a being of which no greater can be conceived (God)
4. B cannot be greater than a being of which no greater can be conceived (God)
5. Therefore God exists

Essentially, Anselm states that God is the greatest being that can be thought of, and something that actually exists is something greater that doesn’t exist. Then, God has to exist because he is the greatest being one can think of, and it would not make sense if God didn’t exist, and a being that has god-like qualities exists, making this god-like being better than god; yet this outcome contradicts God’s nature of being the greatest being ever to be conceived. However, the reasons as to why Anselm believes in his premises are a bit more unreliable, and I can only really conclude that the main source of Anselm’s reasoning was his background as a priest/saint. Obviously, as an authoritative figure of the Catholic Church, Anslem’s beliefs would take route from traditional catholic thought and holy texts such as the Bible, which brings in a fallacy in his argument (which I will get to later). For example, Anselm’s definition of God most closely aligns with the Bible’s definition of God: that God is essentially the perfect being in every way, and that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnibenevolent. Therefore, I can conclude that the majority of Anselm’s premises/beliefs stemmed from his background as an important figure in the Catholic Church.