The Ontological Argument: Reconstructed According to the Idealism of Josiah Royce

十一世紀時，聖安瑟倫建構了上帝存在的證明。安瑟倫的論證在歷史中發揮深遠的影響。他似乎僅從對上帝本質的思考中便總結出上帝的存在。許多人認為安瑟倫的證明是哲學史上最大膽的嘗試。安瑟倫的論證模式大體上在中世紀時被拒絕（如阿奎那），在理性主義時代成為主流（比較笛卡爾、馬勒伯朗士、萊布尼茲），不料受到康德的批判，對他而言，這樣的論證成為任何一種上帝存在的證明的基礎。二十世紀時（比較諾曼•麥爾坎），這個論證已經被修正，並且有了創造性的發展。本文將檢視魯一士所使用的這個論證的特殊形式，他的論證曾受到威廉•詹姆斯的讚許。本文將聚焦於魯一士年輕時期的論證（約1892年），並且以魯一士觀念論的預設來重構。所呈現的論證與其說是證明上帝確定存在的一種嘗試，不如說是激起並引出相反意見的努力。進一步檢視安瑟倫的邏輯是必要的。

關鍵字

上帝存在的證明；本體論論證；實在論；觀念論；魯

並列摘要

In the 11th Century, St. Anselm constructed a proof of divine existence. Anselm's argument has had a long and notably influential history. Anselm seems to have proceeded from a mere consideration of the divine essence to the conclusion that God exists. Anselm's proof is considered by many to be the most audacious attempt in the history of philosophy. Anselm's mode of argumentation, generally rejected in the medieval period (e.g., by St. Thomas Aquinas), became dominant in Rationalism (cf. Descartes, Malebranche, Leibniz, etc.), only to be critiqued by Kant, for whom such argumentation underlies any type of proof for divine existence. In the 20th Century (cf. Norman Malcolm) the argument has been revised and creatively developed. The ensuing study will examine the specific version of this argument used by Josiah Royce, a version that received the praise of William James. This study will focus solely on the young Royce's argumentation (ca. 1892) and reconstruct the argument in terms of Royce's idealistic pre-suppositions. The argument presented is not so much an attempt to ”prove” definitively divine existence (though the author considers the argument to be valid) as it is an effort to be provocative, hopefully eliciting contrary opinions. Further examination of Anselmian logic is to be desired.