metaphysics
...ity as well as in thought other wise it would be possible to conceive something greater. St Anselm (monk in the middle ages who became archbishop of Canterbury, 1033-1109) set out the ontological argument. He wrote it in his book called "the Proslogion". What Anselm says is the word "God" means, "that than which is nothing greater can be conceived". He then asks what is greater- God as an idea or God as an existing thing? Anselm answers that the second is greater so God must exist in the real world. Anselm's argument is, by definition, God is the greatest conceivable entity. God can be thought of as an idea or as existing. Existence is perfection for example it is better to exist than to not exist. There for God exists. Since existence is part of the definition of God, God dose not just exist, he exists necessarily. This means it is impossible for God to stop exiting or not to have existed always. However there are some philosophers disagree with this belief. Kant says, the idea of causes or effects is only true in this world. The idea that one thing cause another is true in this world but God is beyond the world of sense experience. We use the idea that one thing causes another to help us make sense of the world. We cannot jump from reasoning about this world to reasoning about God. Immanuel Kant believed that "existence" could not be part of the definition of any idea. For example, the idea of a dog that is furry and barks I the same whether the dog exist or not. The extent to which we imagine God the greatest conceivable being cannot be in creased by imagining that God exists. Instead, Kant claimed, God stays firmly in the mind and no bridge can be built from the world of ideas to the world of reality. I bel...