A Defense and Evaluation of Spinoza’s Ontological Argument

Abstract

Proofs for the existence of God have undergone many forms, but the tradition surrounding the Ontological Argument is highly unique in that it is typified by the search for a purely a priori method of arriving at God's necessary existence. Spinoza's Ontological Argument is well worth the attention given its uniqueness with respect to the typical Anselmian variations. Moreover, within the greater context of Spinoza's "Ethics", the argument is used to advance a wholly foreign notion of a self-contained pantheistic God. In this paper, I shall simplify Spinoza's Ontological Argument and evaluate its integrity against the many critiques that were raised against it.