Rescher's Ontological Argument
- The concept of God can only be had in virtue of a body of experience which is sufficient to justify belief that God exists. (Premise)
- I have the concept of God. (Premise)
- Hence, I am justified in believing that there is at least one God.
How to argue for 1?
- A concept is essentially experientially based if it can be gained only by means of a body of experience. (Definition)
- Any body of experience sufficient to gain an essentially experientially based concept is sufficient to justify belief that something falls under that concept. (Premise)
- The concept of God is essentially experientially based. (Premise)
But is 6 true? Maybe the concept of God is only essentially partly experientially based. Let's try a variant:
- A concept is essentially partly experientially based if it can be gained only by means of a body of experience combined with other concept-acquiring processes. (Definition)
- Any body of experience that, possible together with other concept-acquiring processes, is sufficient to gain an essentially partly experientially based concept is sufficient to justify belief that something falls under that concept. (Premise)
- The concept of God is essentially partly experientially based. (Premise)
But 8 is false. The concept of a red square circle is a counterexample.
So, I don't know if Rescher's argument can be defended.