God is a being than than which nothing greater can be conceived
The fool says 'there is no God'
It is greater to exist in reality and concept as opposed to concept alone
Therefore the fool is a fool as you cannot except the concept of God without excepting his existence.
2nd part
There is something that exists that we cannot conceive to not exist (the idea that this thing doesn't exist is inconceivable i.e it exists necessarily).
This is greater than something that can be conceived to not exist (the idea that this thing doesn't exist is perfectly viable i.e it exists contingently).
Therefore If god exists purely in the mind then what you are thinking about is not God (and so therefore he exists ).
So my head hurts a lot now it kinda feels like a turtle on its back trying to right itself...
I'm also no longer sure that I have the right arguments in the right bit so that something i'm going to have to go over yay.
Hi Ed,
ReplyDelete'accept' not 'except' at the top
You have things spot on until the very end, where you chuck in the comment, 'and so therefore he exists'. You are right, but it needs one additional sentence between this and what comes beforehand.
Better:
"Therefore, if God exists purely in he mind then what you are thinking about is not God. God is that which you cannot conceive of not existing, therefore he must exist; in other words, his existence is necessary."
Hope this helps.