Abstract
The scholastic arguments for the existence of God play a vital role in the thought of the Middle Ages. The Ontological Argument is a staple version of quarrels to prove belief in God, whilst falling under the spell of St Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), and John Duns Scotus (1266-1308). In fact, Scotus’ model of the Ontological Argument in The De Primo Principio is apt to be largely affected by Aquinas’ second way, viz., the cosmological argument in the Summa Theologiae and Anselm’s so-called a priori argument of ontology. Rather, this has nothing to do with any religious faith or magisterial presence of the Catholic doctrine per se, but everything germane to metaphysics. In this scrutiny, I will, therefore, attempt to explore Scotus’ standard of the Ontological Argument as a tenable position for the existence of God. By employing the qualitative case-study methodology, the research has shown several key findings thereto: the landscape of Scotus’ coloured version of the Ontological Argument - the modal concept of possibility - a first cause and God’s actual possibility in the real order. In effect, under the aegis of modality, the Ontological Argument was imbued with a first cause rationale upon God’s actuality. God is, ipso facto, no longer available as a causal entity as it is uncaused; this asserts that God should be actual in the real order. However, this study is solely based on the dialectics of Scotus’ Ontological Argument vis-à-vis the burgeoning literature in scholarship.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality
KEYWORDS
A First Cause, God’s Actual Possibility, Modality, Scotus’ Ontological Argument
