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What, the anti-ontological argument? Yes. There's another very-slightly-similar inverted ontological argument that may have been in the back of my head. It's d
by gjm11 12y ago
What, the anti-ontological argument? Yes.
There's another very-slightly-similar inverted ontological argument that may have been in the back of my head. It's due to a chap called Douglas Gasking, and it begins with a standard ontological argument -- which, as you know, delivers us a Maximally Excellent Being. Now, of course God's signature accomplishment is the creation of the universe; but any creative achievement is more impressive when it is accomplished under greater constraints (so, e.g., while it is impressive to come up with a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem it would be even more impressive to come up with a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in the form of a perfect Shakespearean sonnet). Well, what would be the most impressive obstacle for God to have overcome when creating the world? His own total nonexistence, obviously. So our maximally impressive being must be a god who created the universe without existing; therefore God does not exist.
I have to confess that I like mine better.