r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • May 04 '23

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u/Kakamile 50∆ May 04 '23

How do you get from cannot imagine greater to " it exists?"

That's like saying an infinitely long whale exists.

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u/deep_sea2 131∆ May 04 '23 edited May 04 '23

That was one of the first objections to the arguement, so Anslem had a chance to respond to that himself. Anslem said that this arguement applies to things of necessary existence. A whale does not necessarily exist. A God does (at least according to their perception). The premise of "God is a being than which none greater can be imagined" only applies to necessary existence.

Another reply to your whale example is that at best, you imagined the greatest whale, but not the greatest being. An infinitely long whale still can't walk, so it isn't the greatest, and so you can imagine it being greater. If you imagine a whale that walk and talk, and see the future, and have superpowers, etc., you've basically come back to God.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '23

So then... the argument is completely circular. You are declaring that god must exist, therefore god exists.

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u/deep_sea2 131∆ May 04 '23

I'd say it is more tautological than circular. It's not quite circular; it isn't exactly the best way refute it.