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    Hume's Dialogues and the 'Anselmian gap' objection (van I... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→It is necessary that a supernatural being of some sort exists.

    Hume's Dialogues and the 'Anselmian gap' objection (van Inwagen 1994) establish that conceivability of necessary existence does not entail its genuine metaphysical possibility.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Hume showed we can conceive of God's non-existence without logical contradiction, yet theists claim God necessarily exists.
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    • 2.Van Inwagen's gap argument demonstrates conceivability requires only logical consistency, not metaphysical grounding or modal truth.
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    • 3.Conceivability depends on cognitive limits and imagination; metaphysical possibility depends on objective modal facts independent of minds.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Conceiving the non-existence of something does not show non-existence is possible if our conceiving apparatus cannot grasp necessary truths.
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    • 2.The Anselmian argument targets conceivability of a maximally great being, not generic necessity—a distinction the objection may conflate.
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    • 3.Hume's dialogues lack rigorous modal logic and may simply show psychological conceivability differs from metaphysical modality without refuting necessity.
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    Natural Theology1 linked

    Related

    Conceivability depends on cognitive limits and imagination; metaphysical possibi...Conceiving the non-existence of something does not show non-existence is possibl...Hume showed we can conceive of God's non-existence without logical contradiction...Hume's dialogues lack rigorous modal logic and may simply show psychological con...
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    It is necessary that a supernatural being of some sort exists.The Anselmian argument targets conceivability of a maximally great being, not ge...Van Inwagen's gap argument demonstrates conceivability requires only logical con...

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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