Q&A: Is The Ontological Argument Question Begging?

Evan,

As you have again mentioned The Ontological Argument, I've been examining it in detail, and I think I have pinpointed its fatal flaw.

You wrote in your first premise, "It's possible that a Maximally Great Being (MGB) exists." And you explained in your third premise that if an MGB exists, it must exist necessarily; otherwise, it wouldn't be maximally great. We can't avoid the property of necessary existence without describing a lesser, contingent being instead of an MGB. The word "necessar...