Real by Definition: The Ontological Proof of God

Taking concepts too seriously, and the social necessity of God and idols

Image by Mike, from Pexels.com

Even atheists can form the idea of the greatest possible being, of something that by definition would have to exist in reality rather than just in our imagination. So mustn’t there really be such a supreme being that we “God”?

This is a sketch of the so-called ontological proof of God first propounded by Saint Anselm, an argument that might better be called “conceptual” or “analytic” rather than “ontological,” as we’ll see. In any case, the argument has tantalized theologians and philosophers for centuries because it seems at first glance to prove that God exists even though all the argument does is analyze the concept of God.

At the core of this type of argument is the suspicion that the very idea of God is itself miraculous and an indicator that the concept must have a divine origin. If you’re thinking of a mere fiction, you’re not thinking of God — and again, that’s simply stipulated in understanding what “God” means. To think of what God would have to be, you must think of something real; specifically, you must think of the greatest real thing. Therefore, to have that idea of God in your head is to affirm that God must be real, so God must really exist. God must then have implanted the…