Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Ontological arguments and belief in God
- Introduction
- 1 Some historical considerations
- 2 Definitional arguments
- 3 Conceptual arguments
- 4 Modal arguments
- 5 Meinongian arguments
- 6 Experiential arguments
- 7 “Hegelian” arguments
- 8 Application to historical arguments
- 9 Are there (other) global objections to ontological arguments?
- 10 Is existence a predicate?
- 11 The uses of parody
- 12 Are ontological arguments of any use to theists and/or atheists?
- Conclusion
- Literature notes
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - “Hegelian” arguments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Ontological arguments and belief in God
- Introduction
- 1 Some historical considerations
- 2 Definitional arguments
- 3 Conceptual arguments
- 4 Modal arguments
- 5 Meinongian arguments
- 6 Experiential arguments
- 7 “Hegelian” arguments
- 8 Application to historical arguments
- 9 Are there (other) global objections to ontological arguments?
- 10 Is existence a predicate?
- 11 The uses of parody
- 12 Are ontological arguments of any use to theists and/or atheists?
- Conclusion
- Literature notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
I am not confident that what I have to say in this section is an accurate representation of the thought of Hegel, or of any subsequent Hegelians. However, what I provide is a characterization of certain kinds of a priori arguments for the existence of God that might perhaps be arrived at on the basis of a reading of some of the work of, say, R. G. Collingwood or E. E. Harris. There are three kinds of arguments: (i) an argument that, albeit tendentiously, can be traced back to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason; (ii) an argument that can be traced back to some ideas in Plato; and (iii) an argument that can be traced back to some ideas in Husserl and other continental phenomenologists.
THE NEO-KANTIAN ARGUMENT
In this section, I discuss an argument that can be traced back to Kant. This argument is a kind of transcendental deduction of the existence of God. In presenting this argument, I draw on Harris (1972X1977), though I doubt that he would approve of the use that I have made of his work.
In The Critique of Pure Reason, Kant provides the materials for an a priori proof of the necessity of belief in the existence of God. Very roughly, this argument goes as follows:
Perception of objects is possible only as a result of an a priori synthesis under the categories and the pure forms of intuition. (Premise)
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- Ontological Arguments and Belief in God , pp. 97 - 107Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996