A Maximally Great Being is Possible

Most philosophers agree that if God’s existence is possible, then he must exist. That is, God's existence is necessary, which is a property. A well known and well defended argument is below where steps 2-5 are uncontroversial. The key premise is 1.Plantinga’s Argument 1. It is possible that a maximally great being exists. 2. If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists in some possible world. 3. If a maximally great being exists in some possible world, then it exists in every possible world. 4. If a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world 5. If a maximally great being exists in the actual world, then a maximally great being exists.6. Therefore a maximally great being exists. Warrant: a priori for 1A maximally great being is intuitively coherent & therefore possibly instantiated. Thus in order for the argument to fail the concept of God must be logically incoherent. But a maximally great being doesn’t seem even remotely incoherent, so we have at least prima facie warrant for thinking it’s possible that a maximally great being exists. Warrant: a posteriori for 1 Plantinga says that if we “carefully ponder” 1, & objections to it & if we consider its connections with other propositions we accept / reject & we still find it compelling, then we’re within our rational right to accept 1. This recommendation is a far cry from the a priori speculations decried by modal skeptics. For even if we cannot come to a priori warrant, we’re rational in accepting 1 by a posteriori warrant from successfull arguments like the; ℵ Cosmological Argument: Metaphysically necessary being who grounds contingencyℵ Moral Argument: Moral value locus that’s as necessary as the values which it groundsℵ Conceptualist argument: Omniscient, metaphysically necessary intellect grounding abstract objects.Defining Terms A Possible World is a Maximal Description of Reality, not planets or a universe. It's just a way reality might be. Imagine a huge conjunction ℵ Conjunction: Propositions, p, q, r, s … Worlds, W1, W2, etc A possible world is a conjunction which comprises every proposition or its contrary. Such a conjunction yields a maximal description of reality—nothing is left out. So by negating different conjuncts in a maximal description of reality would yeild different worlds. W1 = p, q, r, s … W2 = p, ¬q, r, ¬s … W3 = ¬p, ¬q, r, s … … … Only one of these worlds can be the actual world, that is a world with all true conjuncts. Possible world conjuncts must be capable of being true individually & together. For example, The prime minister is a prime number isn’t even possibly true Saying God exists in some possible world means the proposition: God exists is true in some maximal description of reality. Thus God is ‘maximally excellent’ in every possible world: God has ‘maximal greatness.’ To have Maximal Excellence is to possess great making properties. Great making properties are things like omniscience, omnipotence, moral perfection, etc. Maximal Greatness is possibly exemplified. But then it must exist in a maximally excellent way in every possible world, including the actual world, therefore God exists.