Can an ontological argument successfully establish that God exists?
AQA A-Level Philosophy | Paper 2 | 2026 Predicted Paper | Question 5 Mark Scheme
Can an ontological argument successfully establish that God exists?
[25 marks]
What is expected
This is an extended AO1 + AO2 evaluation question, worth 5 marks for knowledge and understanding and 20 marks for analysis and evaluation. The word "Can" requires students to reach and defend a reasoned judgement about whether at least one ontological argument succeeds, rather than simply describing Anselm, Descartes and Malcolm.
For the current specification, the relevant arguments are specifically Anselm, Descartes and Malcolm, with Gaunilo's perfect island, empiricist objections to a priori arguments for existence, and Kant's objection that existence is not a predicate as the specified issues.
Levels of response
Marks | Descriptor |
21–25 | A sustained and purposeful argument directly answering the question. Knowledge is detailed and precise. Arguments and objections are presented accurately in their strongest forms and are integrated into an ongoing evaluation. Judgements are made about which considerations carry the most weight, leading to a clear and robustly defended conclusion. Philosophical terminology is consistently precise. |
16–20 | A clear, sustained argument with detailed and largely accurate knowledge. Relevant arguments and counterarguments are explained and evaluated rather than merely juxtaposed. There is a clear conclusion and some weighing of the relative strengths of arguments, although evaluation may not be consistently developed. |
11–15 | A clear response containing generally accurate and detailed knowledge. Arguments and objections are included and there is genuine evaluation, but this may be uneven or insufficiently sustained. A conclusion is supported by reasons, although the overall argument may lack precision or balance. |
6–10 | Some relevant argument is present, but the response is not consistently coherent or evaluative. Knowledge is broadly correct but contains gaps. Arguments and objections may be described alongside one another rather than used to establish a judgement. |
1–5 | Limited relevant knowledge with little evidence of sustained argument. The response may be largely descriptive, one-sided or fragmentary, with little connection between the material presented and the conclusion. |
0 | Nothing worthy of credit. |
These bands reflect AQA's current approach to 25-mark Philosophy essays. In the official mark scheme for the closely comparable ontological-argument question, the top band requires a sustained argument, precise understanding, strong versions of arguments and counterarguments, ongoing judgements about their weight, and a robust conclusion.
Indicative content
Students are not expected to cover everything below. A focused, well-evaluated answer can outperform a response that mentions all three ontological arguments but treats them superficially.
The nature of ontological arguments
Students may explain that ontological arguments are:
arguments for the existence of God
a priori, because their premises are intended to be justified independently of experience
deductive, so if the premises are true and the reasoning valid, the conclusion is intended to follow necessarily
distinctive because they attempt to reason from the concept or nature of God to God's existence
This matters to the question because "successfully establish" sets a very demanding standard. If the argument is deductively valid, its success depends crucially on whether its premises can be defended.
Anselm's ontological argument
Students may explain Anselm along the following lines:
God is a being than which nothing greater can be conceived
even the person who denies God's existence can understand this concept
therefore God exists at least in the understanding
Anselm argues that a being existing in reality as well as in the understanding would be greater than an otherwise identical being existing only in the understanding
suppose God existed only in the understanding
it would then be possible to conceive of something greater, namely the same being existing in reality
this contradicts the original conception of God as that than which nothing greater can be conceived
therefore God must exist
A strong student may identify its reductio structure: assuming that God does not exist generates a contradiction with the original conception of God.
Gaunilo's perfect island objection
Want to read more?
Subscribe to revision-notes.com to keep reading this exclusive post.
