''The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God'' (german: Der einzig mögliche Beweisgrund zu einer Demonstration des Daseins Gottes) is a book by

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

, published in 1763. It was published during the earlier period of Kant's philosophy, often referred to as the "pre-critical" period, during which he expressed little doubt about the possibility of rational metaphysics as conducted in the Leibnizian-Wolffian philosophical system which dominated German philosophy during that time. Kant later came to view this period of his philosophical career as a "dogmatic slumber". In ''The Only Possible Argument'', Kant questions both the ontological argument for God (as proposed by Saint Anselm) and the

argument from design The teleological argument (from ; also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument) is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world wh ...

. Kant argues that the internal possibility of all things presupposes some existence:

''Accordingly, there must be something whose nonexistence would cancel all internal possibility whatsoever. This is a necessary thing.''

Kant then argues that this necessary thing must have all the characteristics commonly ascribed to God. Therefore, God necessarily exists. This ''

a priori ("from the earlier") and ("from the later") are Latin phrases used in philosophy to distinguish types of knowledge, justification, or argument by their reliance on empirical evidence or experience. knowledge is independent from current ...

'' step in Kant's argument is followed by a step '' a posteriori'', in which he establishes the necessity of an absolutely necessary being. He argues that

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...

itself contains the principles which give rise to an ordered universe, and this leads us to the concept of God as a Supreme Being, which "embraces within itself everything which can be thought by man." "God includes all that is possible or real." " e very substantial and favourable review published by

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

... was responsible for establishing Kant's reputation in Germany as a major philosopher."

Citations

References

* The first English translation of this work, originally published in 1797, is in a two volume collection of translations of the works of Kant. This 1799 edition is available in a photocopy published in 1993 by Thoemmes Press of Bristol, England, * * 1763 books Books by Immanuel Kant German non-fiction books {{christian-book-stub