ABSTRACT
The proofs of the existence of God which people have hitherto considered have all been a posleriori proofs in which the reasoning has been from the effect to the cause. Many critics have seen no more in the proof than a patent sophism, and have marvelled that any person of intelligence could have been deluded into regarding it as a valid argument. Descartes' formulation of the argument is not materially different from that of Anselm. Kant criticizes the ontological proof at length in the Critique of Pure Reason. His refutation was decisive; but in point of fact his arguments are wide of the mark. He throughout treats the notion of the infinite nature as though it were on a par with other natures, and could be represented either with or without existence. Of greater importance than the foregoing is the interpretation offered by idealist thinkers whose system is more or less closely related to that of Hegel.
