Plantinga's Modal Ontological Argument
Alvin Plantinga's late 20th-century ontological argument using modal logic to argue that a maximally great being is possible; what is possibly necessary must be necessary; therefore God exists necessarily. The argument employs possible world semantics to overcome Kant's objection that existence is not a predicate.
Real World
Plantinga's argument gained prominence in analytic philosophy of religion at Notre Dame, where he taught for decades. Even critics like J.L. Mackie conceded the argument is logically valid — the debate shifted entirely to whether the key premise (that maximal greatness is possible) is true.
Exam Focus
Identify the crucial premise — that maximal greatness is logically possible — as the point critics challenge, and evaluate whether it begs the question.
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