The Ontological Argument.

[Hare_Geist]

I was re-reading Descartes' [i]Meditations on First Philosophy[i] today (because he's one of my favourite philosophers and I wanted to have a better understanding of Edmund Husserl's phenomenology, which was influenced by Descartes methodological doubt and 'Cogito Ergo Sum') and it got me thinking about the ontological argument for the existence of God.

Anselm's argument goes like this:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>God is the entity than which no greater entity can be conceived.

<LI>The concept of God exists in human understanding.

<LI>God does not exist in reality (assumed in order to refute).

<LI>The concept of God existing in reality exists in human understanding.

<LI>If an entity exists in reality and in human understanding, this entity is greater than it would have been if it existed only in human understanding (a statement of existence as a perfection).

<LI>from 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 An entity can be conceived which is greater than God, the entity than which no greater entity can be conceived (logical self-contradiction).

<LI>Assumption 3 is wrong, therefore God exists in reality (assuming 1, 2, 4, and 5 are accepted as true).

</UL>

And Descartes' arguments go like this:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>Whatever I clearly and distinctly perceive to be contained in the idea of something is true of that thing.

<LI>I clearly and distinctly perceive that necessary existence is contained in the idea of God.

<LI>Therefore, God exists.

</UL>

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>I exist

<LI>I have an idea of a supremely perfect being, i.e. a being having all perfections.

<LI>As an imperfect being I would be unable to create such a concept through my own thoughts.

<LI>The concept must have come from God.

<LI>To be a perfect being God must exist.

<LI>God exists.

</UL>

The bizarre thing about this argument is that I can't find anything wrong with it at first glance, yet find it totally unconvincing. The same goes for Kant and Hume's arguments against the ontological argument.

I cannot fathom why this is and would like to hear other people's opinions of the argument.

Couldn't it be argued that the universe is God? It has everything required to be defined as God. It is self-contained and contains everything imaginable and, depending on whose values, is perfect.