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- Title
Kant's Argument that Existence is not a Determination.
- Authors
Stang, Nicholas F.
- Abstract
In this paper, I examine Kant's famous objection to the ontological argument: existence is not a determination. Previous commentators have not adequately explained what this claim means, how it undermines the ontological argument, or how Kant argues for it. I argue that the claim that existence is not a determination means that it is not possible for there to be non-existent objects; necessarily, there are only existent objects. I argue further that Kant's target is not merely ontological arguments as such but the larger 'ontotheist' metaphysics they presuppose: the view that God necessarily exists in virtue of his essence being contained in, or logically entailed by, his essence. I show that the ontotheist explanation of divine necessity requires the assumption that existence is a determination, and I show that Descartes and Leibniz are implicitly committed to this in their published versions of the ontological argument. I consider the philosophical motivations for the claim that existence is a determination and then I examine Kant's arguments in the Critique of Pure Reason against it.
- Subjects
KANT, Immanuel, 1724-1804; ONTOLOGY -- Social aspects; ARGUMENT; DETERMINATION (Personality trait); METAPHYSICS; GOD
- Publication
Philosophy & Phenomenological Research, 2015, Vol 91, Issue 3, p583
- ISSN
0031-8205
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/phpr.12227