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Ace of Diamonds
the ontological and a priori family

The Ontological Argument

St Anselm of Canterbury
Proslogion

The Ontological Argument, card face
DemonstrativeConcludes that something exists.
Argument form
Reductio ad absurdum
Concludes to
God as such (that than which nothing greater can be conceived, existing in reality)
Premise ground
Conceptual (that than which nothing greater can be conceived; to exist in reality is greater)
Modal strength
Actual (existence in reality; necessity is the Proslogion 3 argument, 9♦)
What it licenses
  • maximal perfection (nothing greater conceivable)
Period
Medieval (1077–78)
Tradition
Augustinian (Anselmian)

Further reading

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.

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