David Dell'Agostino

Gaunilo’s island analogy to Anselm’s ontological argument is often dismissed as weak. Alvin Plantinga rejects the concept of the greatest island as incoherent, arguing that island great making properties like coconutty lack intrinsic maxima—an island with more coconuts can always be found. In contrast, God is omniscient, ensuring that no being can surpass His knowledge. Plantinga suggests that divine attributes guarantee insurmountable greatness, unlike the attributes of an island. However, I challenge this view, arguing that the concept of the greatest possible island is as coherent as that of the greatest possible being, both of which require select interpretation of the properties attributed to them. By applying omni qualifiers to island qualities and appealing to logical possibility, a map to Gaunilo’s lost island may be found.