Anselm's Cosmological Argument - Essay Example

 The 11th century English philosopher Anselm of Canterbury attempted to prove the existence of God through the idea of causation. By proving that there is only one being that caused the existence of all things including itself, Anselm arrives at the idea that this one being is supremely good and is God. However, a small logical problem in the final conclusion of the argument somehow implies that this one being cannot be supremely good. Exposition Anselm’s cosmological argument begins with the conclusion, followed by the proof which states that everything has a cause, that all things are caused by only one thing, that this one thing also caused its own existence, and that this one thing is the highest of all existing things. The second paragraph up to the beginning of the third paragraph is where Anselm proves that everything must have a cause: 1) Par. 2: Everything exists through something or through nothing; 2) Par. 2: It is inconceivable that something exists without a cause; 3) Par. 3: Everything must exist through a cause (Anselm, 1994, p. 87). The above proof is crucial in that ultimately Anselm has to prove that God is the first cause of all things and of itself. Without the above conclusion (#3), there would be some things that God must not have caused. The second part of Anselm’s proof explains why there must only be one cause for the existence of all things: 4) Par. 3: There is either one or more than one being that caused the existence of everything; 5) Par. 3: If there is more than one cause, then a) all things are the one being through which they all exist, or b) all things exist separately each by virtue of itself, or c) they cause one another to exist (Anselm, 1994, p. 87). The next part of the proof is where Anselm goes back to each of the three parts of statement #5 and disproves each of the three subparts in order to prove in the end that there is only one being that caused the existence of everything: 6) Par. 4: If all things were one being that caused their existence, then it must not be more than one being; 7) Par. 5: If all things existed separately, then they must exist by virtue of one power, and so this power is the one being that caused all their existence, so it must not be more than one being; 8) Par. 6: Using the notion of “master” and “slave,” it is impossible for one being to confer existence on the one being that had originally conferred existence on the former. Moreover, all things “do not at all exist mutually,” which means that it would be impossible that each one would cause one another, and so there must not be more than one being (Anselm, 1994, p. 87). 9) Par. 7: Based on statement #6, #7, and #8, and employing elimination in #5, Anselm arrives at the conclusion that there must be only one thing that causes the existence of all things including itself. After Anselm has concluded that there must only be one being that caused the existence of all things including itself, his final task, through the last two paragraphs, was to prove that this one cause was the greatest of all beings: 10) Par. 8: All things exist through this one being including itself. 11) Par. 8: All other things exist through something other than themselves while this being alone exists through itself. 12) Par. 8: Whatever exists through another is less than that which can exist through itself. 13) Par. 8: “That which exists through itself exists in the greatest degree of all things” (Anselm, 1994, p. 88). Such an ability to cause itself and others is therefore the attribute of the greatest being, while all other things cannot cause themselves. The last part of the proof is the part where Anselm tries to prove that this one being which is the greatest of all is God: 14) Par. 9: This one being “which alone exists in the greatest and highest degree of all” must be “supremely good and supremely great and the highest of all beings” (Anselm, 1994, p. 88). Critical Evaluation The greater part of Anselm’s argument is coherent except for statement #14 (This one being “which alone exists in the greatest and highest degree of all” must be “supremely good and supremely great and the highest of all beings”), which sounds more like mere assumption. The idea of conferring upon this one being the label of being the “greatest” and “highest” being may be logical but the idea of calling this “greatest” and “highest” being as “supremely good” does not seem to follow from the premises. For all we know, the “greatest” and “highest” being might be “supremely evil” for it causes not only the good things but also all evil things, that is if what Anselm meant by “supremely good” is something that gives rise only to goodness. The idea of this one being as the “greatest” and “highest” being confers upon it the idea of anything superlative and anything supreme – be it supreme goodness, supreme evil, or anything else supreme. Even if Anselm were to equate goodness with the idea of giving rise to the existence of something, it does not change the idea that any being that gives rise to the existence of evil must necessarily be evil, in whole or even just in part. This one “highest” and “greatest” being gives rise to everything else and must therefore give rise also to all evil things in this world. Such a being like that cannot therefore be “supremely good.” God must therefore be not “supremely good” but both good and bad, or neither. Conclusion Anselm’s cosmological argument sought to prove that God is the one being that caused itself and caused all things to exist. The proof began with the idea that all things must have been caused but that one being caused itself and all other things to exist. Since this one thing can cause itself while others cannot cause themselves, the former is greater than the latter. However, to call ascribe supreme goodness to this one being does not seem to follow from the premises because this one thing can also cause all evil. Bibliography Anselm. (1994). “Monologium, Chapter III.” St. Anselm, Basic Writings. 2nd ed. Trans. S. D. Deane. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company, 87-88. Read More