Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated, often simply called Meditations on First Philosophy or the Meditations, is a philosophi
The title page of the Meditations
Ontological argument
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In the philosophy of religion, an ontological argument is a deductive philosophical argument, made from an ontological basis, that is advanced in support of the existence of God. Such arguments tend t
Anselm of Canterbury, who formulated the ontological argument in his 1078 work Proslogion. An illuminated archbishop—presumably Anselm—from a 12th-century edition of his Meditations. (MS Auct. D2. 6)
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), whose "Proof of the Truthful" (11th century) predated Anselm's ontological framework. It is recognized for its systematic logical derivation of the "Necessary Existent" (Wajib al-Wujud) from the concepts of contingency and necessity.
Anselm of Canterbury was the first to attempt an ontological argument for God's existence.
French thinker René Descartes proposed several arguments that could be termed ontological.