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.
Proslogion
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The Proslogion is a prayer written by the medieval cleric Saint Anselm of Canterbury between 1077 and 1078. In each chapter, Anselm juxtaposes contrasting attributes of God to resolve apparent contrad
Ontological argument
…is true, God must exist. The first ontological argument in Western Christian tradition was proposed by Saint Anselm of Canterbury in his 1078 work, Proslogion (Latin: Proslogium, lit. 'Discourse [on the Existence of God]'), in which he defines God as "a being than which no greater can be conceived," and argues…
Illuminated initial from the beginning of the prologue to Anselm's Monologion, late 11th century