Andrew Beddow

Topic: The Ontological Argument

This course will cover the history of the ontological argument for the existence of God. We will find that there is in fact no single ‘ontological argument,’ but many arguments that share in common an underlying set of concerns, all of them attempting to demonstrate the existence of a divine mind through reflection upon the activity of thinking. This subject is of interest not only for the philosophy of religion, but also for metaphysics and epistemology more broadly, because it seeks to vindicate the objectivity of thought through analysis of the structure and conditions of thought itself. Assigned readings for the course will include works by Plato, Sts. Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas and Bonaventure, Bl. Duns Scotus, Descartes, Kant, and Hegel, among others.