Religion
In reply to the discussion: Atheists still waiting for proof that God exists [View all]struggle4progress
(126,378 posts)he was afraid that others might think "that he actually believes in God, whereas he is only engaged in a logical investigation (that is, in showing that such a proof with classical assumptions (completeness, etc.) correspondingly axiomatized, is possible)" ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_ontological_proof
And your alleged "gist" of Godel's proof reads more like the twelfth century Anselm than like Godel himself: if one wants to know what argument Godel actually constructed in modal logic, it would be better to read Godel rather than some inexpert "gist"
Godel, of course, was a committed Platonist, as many practicing mathematicians are, at least with respect to mathematical practice. And many others, like myself, dwell in a world which has not yet become consistent: at some times Platonists apparently, and at other times outraged pragmatists, perhaps because the very formidable task of eradicating all traces of Platonism has completely defeated us, once we understood the work that would be involved. Perhaps an actual thorough-going Platonist will not see any problems with Anselm's argument; and an actual thorough-going pragmatist will regard it as vacuous nonsense -- and someone like me? Well, I throw up my hands and figure my limited energy might be better spent on other questions
Godel was a strange man. He never had any students; he wanted to explain at his naturalization hearing how the US could legally be converted into a dictatorship; and in the end, he died of malnutrition because he was afraid of being poisoned. He was also one of the greatest logicians who ever lived. I'm not inclined to sneer at him