One of the so-called "proofs" of God, the argument essentially asserts that God must exist because God is, by definition, perfect, and a god who exists only in our thoughts and not in reality is less than perfect (since he lacks the perfection of existence).
Another form of the argument posits that some beings, such as humans who die, have only a contingent existence (i.e., our existence is not necessary) whereas God's existence is a necessary existence. If God's existence is a necessary existence, he must, therefore, exist.
The essential form of the argument was first put forward by Anselm of Canterbury. Few modern thinkers take either form of the argument seriously, arguing that the argument is based on a confusion of the senses.
The name comes from the Greek word ontos for "being."
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