Introduction to philosophy discussion 4 | intro to Philosophy

1. From your reading of Anselm’s text alone (in other words, don’t do any research on the internet before you answer this question—you can do that later), try to construct the argument you think he is making (his ‘ontological argument for God’s existence). Then, construct the argument you think Gaunilo uses to challenge Anselm’s argument, and Anselm’s reply to Gaunilo. (Note: There are several different ways to construct these arguments; we will discuss them at length in the discussion threads.)

2. Pick one of St. Thomas’ five ways for demonstrating the existence of God and construct an argument showing its structure (as above, please do this from your reading of the text alone). How is the argument supposed to work? Do you think that it demonstrates what it sets out to demonstrate? Why or why not? Be specific. We will be discussing St. Thomas’ demonstrations at length in this week’s discussion.

Reading materials 

https://ccis.ucourses.com/content/enforced/933891-PHIL_101_DEA_5-20SUMR1/LiveWebFiles/InstructionalMaterials-4four.html?d2lSessionVal=LwrbNsxo9fNjH4nTTgqPXrJUd&ou=933891&d2l_body_type=3#lecture3

https://ccis.ucourses.com/content/enforced/933891-PHIL_101_DEA_5-20SUMR1/LiveWebFiles/InstructionalMaterials-4four.html?d2lSessionVal=LwrbNsxo9fNjH4nTTgqPXrJUd&ou=933891&d2l_body_type=3#lecture8

https://ccis.ucourses.com/content/enforced/933891-PHIL_101_DEA_5-20SUMR1/LiveWebFiles/InstructionalMaterials-4four.html?d2lSessionVal=LwrbNsxo9fNjH4nTTgqPXrJUd&ou=933891&d2l_body_type=3#lecture9

https://ccis.ucourses.com/content/enforced/933891-PHIL_101_DEA_5-20SUMR1/LiveWebFiles/InstructionalMaterials-4four.html?d2lSessionVal=LwrbNsxo9fNjH4nTTgqPXrJUd&ou=933891&d2l_body_type=3#lecture10

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anselm/

http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/aquinasfiveways_argumentanalysis.htm