♦ Queen of Diamonds
the ontological and a priori family
The Cartesian Ontological Argument
Rene Descartes
Meditationes de prima philosophia (Meditations on First Philosophy)
DemonstrativeConcludes that something exists.
- Argument form
- Modus ponens (P3 is the universal; P1–P2 instantiate it)
- Concludes to
- God as such (a supremely perfect being, existing necessarily)
- Premise ground
- Conceptual (necessary existence belongs to the true and immutable nature of a supremely perfect being)
- Modal strength
- Necessary
- What it licenses
- Period
- Seventeenth Century (1641)
- Tradition
- Cartesian
Further reading
- Source text, public domain
Meditationes de prima philosophianed-kbn-all-00003573-001.pdf - A scholarly account
Read an exposition of the argument - A principal objection
Read the objection in full
This formulation is ours, composed from the primary source and compressed to fit the card; the argument admits of other statements. Objections have been made to every argument in the deck; where one is linked above, it is chosen by us, not written by us.
ergocards.com/cartesian
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