Single Idea 17573

[catalogued under 28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / b. Ontological Proof critique]

Full Idea

There is no reason to suppose - whatever Saint Anselm and Descartes may have thought - that mere existence is a valuable thing.

Gist of Idea

There is no reason to think that mere existence is a valuable thing

Source

Peter van Inwagen (Material Beings [1990], 12)

Book Reference

Inwagen,Peter van: 'Material Beings' [Cornell 1995], p.121


A Reaction

This is one of the simplest and most powerful objections to the Ontological Argument. God's existence may be of great value, but the existence of Hitler wasn't.