Read this today. Thought I would pass it on.
Anselm lived about 1,000 years ago (1033-1109) in Canterbury England. Ontology is the study of being & existence. Philosophy can be fun. Anselm’s celebrated argument is a mind-bender, which goes something like this:
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[First premise] One of two options are possible: either God exists in reality or he doesn’t (you should have no problem with this part)
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[Second premise] It is true that the idea of “God” exists in your mind, where you conceive of God as the most perfect being possible, or “the being for which none greater is possible”, or “the greatest conceivable being”. (this should be no problem either)
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[Third premise] It is certainly possible that God exists in reality. (yeah, still no problem … similar to point #1)
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[Fourth premise] I can conceive of a God that exists in reality. (obviously … similar to points #1 & 3)
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[Fifth premise] Things that exist in reality are greater than those that exist only in the mind. E.g. the real Eiffel Tower is greater than the one that exists in your mind. (still no problem, this is the key part of the argument)
[Here comes the tricky part. Pay attention.]
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[Argument part A] Let’s assume for a minute that God exists only in the mind (remember point #1). Since it it possible that God exists in reality (point #3), and I can conceive of a God that exists in reality (point #4), then I can conceive of a being greater than the greatest conceivable being. (according to point #5, based on point #2)
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[Argument part B] But it is not possible to conceive of a being greater than the greatest conceivable being. (obviously not … it’s like surpassing infinity … you can’t surpass infinity because infinity never ends … you should get the “ah-hah” here).
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[Conclusion] Therefore, only one other option can be possible (according to point #1): God must exist in reality (as well as in the mind). It’s actually a pretty elegant argument, if you think about it.
This was found at: http://radified.com/blog/archives/000057.html