Kurt G\"odel's reception of Charles Hartshorne's ontological proof

Abstract

In 1962 Charles Hartshorne published a modal logic proof formalizing Anselm of Canterbury's ontological argument for the necessary existence of God. This article presents Kurt G\"odel's notes on this proof which have now been discovered in his Nachlass among other theological material, and discusses possible influences on the development of G\"odel's own ontological proof. To complete the picture, strong connections between Anselm of Canterbury's and G\"odel's conceptions of God and his positive properties are pointed out.