Does God exist?

1. 1
   Anselm of Canterbury1033–1109 CEScholasticism

   Argues from the concept alone: God is 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived', and such a being must exist in reality — the ontological argument.

   Responding toAugustine's faith seeking understanding

2. 2
   Avicenna980–1037 CEIslamic Philosophy (Falsafa)

   Argues from contingency: everything merely possible needs a cause, so there must be a 'Necessary Existent' whose very essence is to exist.

   Responding toAristotle's unmoved mover

3. 3
   Thomas Aquinas1225–1274 CEScholasticism

   Rejects Anselm's a priori proof but offers the Five Ways — from motion, causation, contingency, degrees, and design — to a first cause 'all call God'.

   Responding toAnselm and Avicenna

4. 4
   Maimonides1138–1204 CEJewish Philosophy

   We can prove that God is, but never what God is; only negative attributes preserve God's absolute unity.

   Responding tothe philosophers' positive theology

5. 5
   William of Ockham1287–1347 CEScholasticism

   Cuts the other way: God's existence as Christians hold it cannot be demonstrated by reason at all — it is held by faith.

   Responding toAquinas's confidence in proof

6. 6
   René Descartes1596–1650 CERationalism

   Rebuilds the proof from within: the idea of a perfect being could only come from a perfect being — God — who then guarantees that clear ideas are true.

   Responding tohis own methodic doubt

7. 7
   Baruch Spinoza1632–1677 CERationalism

   Identifies God with Nature itself (Deus sive Natura) — one infinite substance, not a personal creator who could have made things otherwise.

   Responding toDescartes

8. 8
   Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz1646–1716 CERationalism

   Only God supplies a sufficient reason for why anything exists at all — and why this, the best of all possible worlds.

   Responding tothe principle of sufficient reason

9. 9
   David Hume1711–1776 CEEmpiricism

   Dismantles the design argument: the world-to-machine analogy is weak, and the reality of evil tells against a good, all-powerful designer.

   Responding tothe argument from design

10. 10
    Immanuel Kant1724–1804 CECritical Philosophy

    Shows every proof overreaches — existence is not a predicate, and God lies beyond possible experience — yet morality still points us toward God as a rational faith.

    Responding toAnselm, Descartes, and Leibniz

11. 11
    Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900 CEExistentialism

    Declares that 'God is dead': the belief has become unbelievable, and we must face the loss of the foundation it gave to meaning and morality.

    Responding tothe whole tradition of proofs

12. 12
    Bertrand Russell1872–1970 CEAnalytic Philosophy

    The modern skeptic's verdict: none of the classic arguments withstands scrutiny, and belief should be proportioned to evidence.

    Responding toAquinas and the natural theologians

From Nietzsche onward the question shifts from proof to meaning: if the old foundation is gone, what takes its place? The argument never quite ends.