[INDOLOGY] Analogues to Anselm's Ontological Arguments in Indian Philosophy?

Mon Jun 24 08:06:26 UTC 2024

Dear all,

It seems to me that there may be some uncertainties about the precise nature of Anselm's argument in this thread. It is not to be identified as an argument about "maximal greatness" per se, a topic that was very well investigated in the Buddhist context by Paul Griffiths in his book On Being Buddha
https://sunypress.edu/Books/O/On-Being-Buddha2
and that seems to me, in one way or another, to be at stake in many of the interesting comments made by contributors to thus thread, which concern the bigger and better qualities ascribed to the divinity.

This is not what Anslem is doing, however. He is sneakily making a purely logical point.
First, the very conception of "that than which no greater can be conceived" must include the concept of being, for that which lacks being is less great that that which does not. Note that this premise is not at all about superadding or magnifying all sorts of qualities - it concerns, in pure abstraction, a logical entailment of the concept "that than which no greater can be conceived."
If we then suppose, as Anselm does, that God alone fills this concept - and again it is a purely logical point that "that than which no greater can be conceived" must be unque; this follows from the concept itself, call it God or what you like - then it follows that the concept of God includes the concept of being.

The problem is, of course, that even if we buy into this conceptually (which St. Thomas, and I. Kant, for example, did not), it seems to imply only something about the concept of God, and not about its real existence. This is where the second iteration in terms of necessary being comes in, for the concept of necessary being, it would seem, can only apply to a being that really is. A necessary being cannot be something that is not. QED

None of the arguments that have so far been adduced in this thread as "resembling" Anselm's seem to me to resemble it in fact in its central concerns with the logical entailments of conceivability and necessity. I have been trying for years to find something in Indian philosophy that might prove otherwise, but have not so far succeeded. But Indian philosophy is a vast domain, approaching maximal greatness, so something may well turn up. I hope that someone will respond to Dan Lusthaus's suggestion about Vallabha, for instance, to see whether there might be something there. It is certainly true that Indian philosophy knew the main elements from which the ontological argument is forged - this much seems true for the Vedantic idea of sac-cid-Ananda, which shows us that the very concept of Brahman entails its being - but were the few additional steps taken by Anselm ever really paralleled?

I suggest that we distinguish clearly between the general idea of maximal greatness and Anselm's very precise assertion that any such idea, without the explicit assumption of being and the logical entailments thereof, remains incomplete.

best to all,
Matthew

Matthew T. Kapstein
Professor emeritus
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris

Associate
The University of Chicago Divinity School

https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein

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https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1

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On Monday, June 24th, 2024 at 8:16 AM, dmitry shevchenko via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Jeffery,
>
> In the Yogasūtra-bhāṣya, attributed to Vyāsa, there is a following argument, which is somewhat akin to the ontological argument. We observe in the world creatures with various cognitive capacities. Some perceive very small things, other very large things, some very remote things, etc. The fact that there are various degrees in cognitive capacities suggests that there must be the highest cognitive degree, i.e., omniscience. And the omniscient being is īśvara.
> It is not entirely clear whether the purpose of the argument is to prove the existence of God. I believe it is primarily meant to establish the possibility of omniscience, against which argue some Mīmāṃsakas. Nevertheless, it is based on a similar usage of the idea of "greatness" and on conceivability of its possession in the greatest measure...
> I'm attaching Larson's translation of this argument from the YSBh on the YS 1.25, with an elaboration by Vācaspati Miśra, who further atttempts to establish that omniscience can only be ascribed to God, and not to human teachers such as the Buddha and Mahāvīra.
>
> Best wishes,
> Dimitry
>
> On Monday, June 24, 2024 at 01:11:44 AM GMT+3, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> That is extremely helpful, Howard. Thank you!
>
> All the best,
> Jeff
>
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>
> On Sunday, June 23, 2024, 6:07 PM, Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> wrote:
>
>> Dear Jeff,
>>
>> There is a passage in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by Rūpa Gosvāmī which is a sort of variation on Anselm’s argument. Anselm of course is making an ontological argument for the existence itself of God, whereas Rūpa argues that Kṛṣṇa must be the most complete form or conception of God, in comparison to Nārāyaṇa, Śīva etc, because he possesses the greatest number of divine qualities.
>>
>> What somehow connects Anselm and Rūpa, is that both assume that if God is infinitely great, then the greatest conception of God is closest to the truth. Anselm deploys this argument, of course, in assuming that existence itself is a positive attribute which must therefore be possessed by God.
>>
>> Rūpa assumes existence and then argues in terms of other attributes. But both share the assumption that if God is infinitely great, then then greatest conception is closest to the truth. That is what connects them, in my view.
>>
>> Thanks for the topic!
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Howard
>>
>>> On Jun 23, 2024, at 12:17 PM, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> Forgive me if this question has already been raised at some point on this list.
>>
>> Are any of you aware of arguments developed in Indian philosophical systems akin to the ontological arguments for the existence of God raised by St. Anselm? The closest thing I can think of is Śaṅkara’s argument that existence is self-evident.
>>
>> With much gratitude in advance,
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> Dr. Jeffery D. Long
>> Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, & Asian Studies
>> School of Arts & Humanities
>> Elizabethtown College
>> Elizabethtown, PA
>>
>> https://etown.academia.edu/JefferyLong
>>
>> Series Editor, Explorations in Indic Traditions: Ethical, Philosophical, and Theological
>> Lexington Books
>>
>> “One who makes a habit of prayer and meditation will easily overcome all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life.” (Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
>>
>> “We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.” (Carl Sagan)
>>
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