Suppose Dreamboat only exists in the understanding, and not in reality.

So Dreamboat exists in the understanding. Whatever is understood, exists in the understanding.

The concept of Dreamboat is understood.A Parody Argumentīlackburn then offers the following parody argument for the existence of “Dreamboat,” a very attractive human lover than which none greater can be conceived. So, Blackburn evidently agrees with the first stage of Anselm’s argument that the concept of God is coherent this will be important later on. It is interesting that Blackburn never denies that the concept of God is understood. It supposes something (God only exists in the understanding), and then shows that this leads to a contradiction, allowing us to infer that the supposition is false. So our original supposition was false.Īs Blackburn and others note, the argument takes the form of a reductio ad absurdum (Latin for “reduction to the absurd”). So no greater being can be conceived, by definition. But God is defined as that than which nothing greater can be conceived. Then a greater being than God can be conceived: one that exists in reality.

Suppose God only exists in the understanding, and not in reality.

Whatever is understood exists in the understanding. The Greatest Conceivable Beingīlackburn presents Anselm’s ontological argument as follows. I will argue that Blackburn’s parody argument is unsuccessful. In his book Think, the philosopher Simon Blackburn argues that Anselm’s ontological argument for God’s existence fails because it is susceptible to refutation by a parody argument. To keep the flow of my argument from being bogged down, I have included several footnotes to support the more abstract points. As Treebeard might say, we do not say anything in philosophy unless it is worth taking a long time to say. While some of the arguments in this post probably seem like they are hair-splitting, I think it is worth pursuing such details in the pursuit of truth. Treebeard, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.” “Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. However, when discussing ancient arguments, context is key. The philosopher Simon Blackburn objects to an ancient argument for God's existence.

Simon blackburn think summary