Essay on Hegel and Kant on the Ontological Argument

Hegel and Kant on the Ontological Argument ABSTRACT: I intend to present Kants refutation of the ontological argument as confronted by Hegels critique of Kants refutation. The ontological argument can be exposed in a syllogistic way: everything I conceive as belonging clearly and distinctly to the nature or essence of something can be asserted as true of something. I perceive clearly and distinctly that existence belongs to the nature or essence of a perfect being; therefore, existence can be stated as true of a supremely perfect being, that is, perfect being exists. I intend to argue that Kant criticizes both the major and minor premises. To the major premise, he objects that there is an unqualified passage from the logical to the†¦show more content†¦Premise 2 holds the central idea of the ontological argument: it implies that existence is a property or quality, and as such should take part of the essence of a supremely perfect being. Such conception could be expressed in the following derived argument: 1) All perfections belong clearly and distinctly to the essence of a supremely perfect being; 2) Existence is a perfection therefore, existence belongs to the essence of a supremely perfect being II. Kants Refutation of the Ontological Argument Kants criticism aims at both premises of the main argument. To the major premise, he objects that there is an unjustified passage from the logical to the ontological level: But the unconditioned necessity of judgments is not the same as an absolute necessity of things. The absolute necessity of the judgments is only a conditioned necessity of the thing, or of the predicate in the judgment (KrV, B621) In other words, to conceive that S is P doesnt imply the necessary existence of S. 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