The value of the ontological argument as a proof lies less in our capacity to conceive of the Absolute than in the transcendent and unique nature of the object of this capacity, which is precisely the Absolute; in other words the notion of the Absolute is absolute. It is in this sense, and not otherwise, that the ontological argument contains a proof of God, and this proof is irrefutable.

Some object that if the argument were valid anything we conceive of or imagine—no matter what—would be real ipso facto; this is a specious objection, for the quality of the argument as a proof lies—let us repeat—not in our mental or intellectual capacity alone but above all, and in an unconditional way, in the supreme object of this capacity; it is man’s reason for being because this supreme object is.

This does not mean that the Absolute needs rational proofs, for there is pure and direct intellection; nonetheless reason has its rights: it can help to actualize a virtual intellection and then express an effective intellection. Once again, if reason and the Intellect did not have these capacities, their existence would be inexplicable.

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