The ontological argument and the devil

Philosophical Quarterly 60 (238):72-91 (2010)
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Abstract

The 'parody objection' to the ontological argument for the existence of God advances parallel arguments apparently proving the existence of various absurd entities. I discuss recent versions of the parody objection concerning the existence of 'AntiGod' and the devil, as introduced by Peter Millican and Timothy Chambers. I argue that the parody objection always fails, because any parody is either (i) not structurally parallel to the ontological argument, or (ii) not dialectically parallel to the ontological argument. Moreover, once a parody argument is modified in such a way that it avoids (i) and (ii), it is, ironically, no longer a parody – it is the ontological argument itself.

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Yujin Nagasawa
University of Oklahoma

Citations of this work

Sceptical theism and the evil-god challenge.Perry Hendricks - 2018 - Religious Studies 54 (4):549-561.
Is There a Shallow Logical Refutation of the Ontological Argument?Yujin Nagasawa - 2012 - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 4 (2):87--99.

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