Robert asked:

Can "Philosophy" prove absolutely that God exists and that God is greater than everything that
exists? My father studied divinity — winning several prizes for his studies — and once when I was a
child he confused my dim mind with a simple logical statement — a 3 prong argument that could
logically prove God existed based upon the assumption that nothing greater than God can exist and
something along the lines of what was greater — that what exists or that which does not? However, I
am probably confused in my recollection.

Can anyone help me to elaborate on this theme as I was very taken with its pleasing simplicity.

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What you're enquiring about is known as the "ontological proof". The one your father told you about
sounds like the argument from perfection.

Step 1: I'm not perfect. Neither are you, nor anyone else I know of. Step 2: But I can imagine
someone much better, more perfect than myself, Indeed if I stretch my imagination, I can think of a
Being so perfect that whatever faults I find in myself and in other humans, this Being does not have
them. Further whatever my limitations or those of humans in general, this Being would have powers
such that I can only think of, but never possess. Now a Being of this order of perfection is unlikely to
be human, so let me call this Being "God". Step 3: One problem remains: Although I can imagine
such a Being, it is after all only my imagination, yes? Well, if that's the case, then this perfect Being
lacks the one perfection that is the most crucial of all, namely existence. But surely if I can conceive
of such perfection then it cannot be unreal: where would my mind get this notion of perfection from if
not from the fact that such a Being exists? Therefore such a Being, which has all perfections I can
think of, and which obviously includes the perfection of existence, must necessarily exist. Therefore
God exists. QED.

The only problem with this proof is that you can "prove" the existence of a fish god the same way. But
your father probably did not tell you about this little impairment!?

Jürgen Lawrenz

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