Gaunilo of Marmoutier

From RationalWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Gaunilo of Marmoutier was an eleventh century Christian monk who is noted for his rational counter example to Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God. Gaunilo claimed to write "on behalf of the fool" and had a tendency towards sarcasm. Gaunilo argued that, following Anselm's absurd logic, it is impossible to imagine an island of unrivaled beauty without such an island existing in reality. Gaunilo's writing forced Anselm to admit that his argument depended on the ambiguity of its terms and began a philosophical tradition of responding to the Ontological Argument which would be continued by Immanuel Kant and Gottlob Frege.

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support