...in or denial of godly or spiritual beliefs and beings, however, Nielsen clarifies that all atheists do not wholeheartedly or similarly reject the existence of said godly or spiritual beliefs and beings. Atheism branches into three major subcategories: fallibilistic atheism, aprioristic atheism, and dogmatic atheism. Fallibilistic atheists believe their knowledge and beliefs concerning godly or spiritual beings could be mistaken. Fallibilistic atheists are usually deemed as agnostics, however, they are distinguished by the fact they presently do not believe in any godly or spiritual being. They remain conscious they may, at some point in the future, be presented with evidence which may alter their beliefs. Fallibilistic atheists are often considered empiricists—those whom believe that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience—for they need to be presented with clear evidence in order to believe in any godly or spiritual beings. Aprioristic atheists do not believe in any godly or spiritual being due to their logical interpretations. Aprioristic atheists reject the existence of any godly or spiritual being because they consider their existence to be incomprehensible and illogical. The existence of a godly or spiritual being, especially in the forms portrayed by popular religions, is unintelligible and ridiculous in the eyes of an aprioristic atheist. Aprioristic atheists do not necessarily derive their...
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...the atheist to provide sufficient proof that God exists. However, McCloskey is not the only person who is unsure and asks questions God’s existence based on personal beliefs or influence. From the beginning many people have had questions about God and his existence. He wrote numerous books on atheism between 1960 and 1980 including the famous book, God and Evil. This paper evaluates the credibility of McCloskey’s article “On being an Atheist”. One of the McCloskey’s core arguments against theism is his demand for any proof that ascertains theists’ beliefs on God’s existence. He believed that atheism is more comforting than theism because most Christians do not believe in God because of proof but because of certain reasons and factors, he is looking for more solid evidence in God’s existence. However, there are several reasons why a person should believe in the existence of God. Firstly, theists believe that God is the creator of all things and of nature. Therefore, God is the creator of all things in existence and that affect both the atheists and theists are affected by this. The Bible also states, that Koran and other religious literatures all communicate the existence of a high power with some similar characteristics. These writings have been in existence for several years without any alteration of which both theists and atheists draw their arguments. Therefore, to some point, atheists have to believe that God exists in order to make their decisions on being atheists, which...
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...his fellow atheists entitled "On Being an Atheist". His purposes for writing this article were to inform other atheists of the supposed inadequacies of theists' belief in God, and to address accusations that the position of atheism is "cold" and "comfortless".[1] The author intends to show that in fact, it is theism that is the cold and comfortless position to hold. Mr. McCloskey is undoubtedly an intelligent and thoughtful man. His article was written in an easy to understand syntax, and was surely embraced by many that hold a similar position. In fact, I think that any Christian would find it easy to wholeheartedly agree with Mr. McCloskey. Atheism is a much better alternative than serving the kind of god he describes in his paper! While McCloskey's arguments sound good, his portrayal of a vengeful, vindictive and manipulating god seems foreign to a discerning Christian. Upon reading his article, one questions the depth of the author's research on the God of the Bible at all. It seems almost as if his only understanding of Him comes from the obviously uninformed theists he quotes in his article. One gets the impression that all theists are either dim-witted or gluttons for punishment, maybe even a little of both! McCloskey attempts to refute three well-known arguments for God’s existence. McCloskey’s arguments in most cases focus in the problem of evil. In his attempt to refute the cosmological argument, McCloskey makes the claim that when a theist uses this...
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...A response to H.J. McCloskey's Article, "On Being an Atheist" In 1968 H.J. McCloskey wrote an article to his fellow atheists entitled "On Being an Atheist". His purposes for writing this article were to inform other atheists of the supposed inadequacies of theists' belief in God, and to address accusations that the position of atheism is "cold" and "comfortless”. The author intends to show that in fact, it is theism that is the cold and comfortless position to hold. Mr. McCloskey is undoubtedly an intelligent and thoughtful man. His article was written in an easy to understand syntax, and was surely embraced by many that hold a similar position. In fact, I think that any Christian would find it easy to wholeheartedly agree with Mr. McCloskey. Atheism is a much better alternative than serving the kind of god he describes in his paper! While McCloskey's arguments sound good, his portrayal of a vengeful, vindictive and manipulating god seems foreign to a discerning Christian. Upon reading his article, one questions the depth of the author's research on the God of the Bible at all. It seems almost as if his only understanding of Him comes from the obviously uninformed theists he quotes in his article. One gets the impression that all theists are either dim-witted or gluttons for punishment, maybe even a little of both! McCloskey attempts to refute three well-known arguments for God’s existence. McCloskey’s arguments in most cases focus in the problem of evil. In his...
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...Arvin D. Medlock Jr. PHIL 201-DO2 Professor R.D. Kuykendall 5 May 3, 2015 McCloskey Response Paper “On Being an Atheist” Does God Exist? That is the question we face! For many years Theists and Atheist have debated this question for many years along with their central views and beliefs that we as human being rely on as it relates to Life and God. The Point of views and debates center around the Cosmological Argument, the Teleological argument (argument from Design) and the most debated argument as it relates to this topic called the Problem with evil? When questioning wither or not God Exist these traditional arguments play significant roles in investigating and proving or discrediting someone’s view or stance on this specific Philosophical belief. As you read McCloskey article “On Being an Atheist” he argues the Theist stance who believe in the Existence of God from the perspective view of an Atheist. McCloskey in writing this Article is not trying to discredit their belief in the Existence of God, but to raise questions, doubts and uncertainties concerning their arguments on which they stand on to prove their belief by ultimately concluding that the Theist arguments are not valid and should be disregarded as evidence to prove their belief in the existence of God. The problem with McCloskey argument against the argument of Theistic View is the Theist argument is not to literally prove their belief concretely on the existence of God, but there view is design to give us...
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...Elder 1 Tonisha Elder Phil 201 Response to McCloskey article May 7, 2016 Elder 2 In McCloskey’s article “On Being an Atheist”, McCloskey shares with us his arguments on why being an atheist is more comforting (if you will) than being a Christian. McCloskey believes that the three proofs (Cosmological, Teleological, and the argument from design) are not a basis for proving God’s existence. McCloskey discharges the proofs by saying in his article, “, theists do not come to believe in God as a result of reflecting on the proofs, but come to religion as a result of other reasons and factors.” (McCloskey, 62). Although there are many ways that one could come to believe in Gods existence, thinking cosmologically, I can’t help but to look at Gods splendor around me or think of the universe, and doubt that God does in fact exist. In “Approaching the Question of God’s existence, Foreman says, “There are certain effects we see in the universe that show God exists.” (Foreman). Foreman touches on the fact that there is no one argument that proves one hundred percent that God exists. He goes on to share that these three arguments do have value, and when put altogether they all do prove to some degree that God does in fact exist. McCloskey attempts to break down each of the proofs to in a way persuade the reader on why these proofs are invalid. The first one he addresses is the cosmological argument. This proof or argument is the one that is most argued...
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...In “On Being an Atheist” McCloskey provided many arguments that seek justifications on God not existing aka Atheism. He does this by making multiple claims by theists on an overall level that focused on the God that was Christian. His claims are put into numerous sections upon which his counters arguments. In the beginning he delivers a small overview of the arguments that were presented by the theists, which he calls “proofs," saying that it isn't enough to justify that God does exist. Even though there is one proof that doesn’t show God existing, if you put them all together they do provide strong evidence that God does exist although they don’t have many logical answers. But if God does exist it is based on such proofs or objections are arguable. McCloskey first suggests that proofs don’t ultimately state that God exists, so they should be forgotten. Only problem is that he doesn’t make efforts on defining evil and to help it he doesn’t explain it either. He even tries to disgrace everybody’s belief in God, by attacking the origin of the belief but didn’t address why your faith isn’t valid even if they look at all of the evidence before accepting to be Christian. To better understand his argument, you must understand relativism stating that all points of view are all valid and true to the individual, but this does not prove there is or is not God. For Christians, the truth is found the words Jesus spoke in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life…” He describes God...
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...find myself relating to each perspective in some way, leaving me unable to exclusively subscribe to either theist, atheist, or agnostic. As a theist, I identify most with pantheism. Human beings are excellent at creating dichotomies and conceptually separating and forming distinctions between every life form that exists. The most obvious examples of this are day and night, hot and cold, tall and short, big and small – the list goes on. The more subtle forms include humans and nature (humans and animals), humans and God, younger humans (children) and older humans (adults), poor humans (unsuccessful) and rich humans (successful), and so on. Since these distinctions are all relative to perception, I am inclined to see all of existence as being these infinite forms within the spectrum of life. To me, if God does exist, s/he exists as the expression of all life. I consider God to be all inclusive – in my mind, a loving God must be the force that relates everything. While I can understand why some choose to identify themselves as atheists, I believe this is a result of the confusion around who and what God is in the first place. I strongly relate to the ontological argument, whereby I consider it impossible to not believe in the existence of God without knowing first who or what God is. In order to know what something is, it must exist. Therefore, I believe the atheist viewpoint is often...
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...Reply Paper to H.J. McCloskey’s Essay: On Being An Atheist H.J McCloskey makes many bold statements in opposition to the most common arguments for theism. To say the least, his bias shows through, even to the point of not seeing the deeper picture. He makes claims against the cosmological and teleological arguments. He then makes a point on how evil speaks against the existence of God. He then concludes with a statement that may or may not be supported by these statements (McCloskey, 1968). The Cosmological Argument McCloskey makes some statements about the necessity of a being that created the universe. He also makes some points about how this being cannot be perfect The Necessarily Existent Being It is amazing how people will require one set of standards for themselves, yet another set of standards for others. This is exemplified in the paper that is presented by H.J McCloskey. He States that proof is required for belief in a god (McCloskey, 1968, p. 51). But he also wants to believe in an origin of the universe in which a bunch of something without origin explodes to create hundreds of thousands of galaxies. Mr. McCloskey wishes to say that one must have proof before they believe. What Mr. McCloskey is not saying is that it would take proof to convince him not to believe in the manner he does. Mr. McCloskey has a belief system which serves his purposes. He has chosen a system that does not have enough solid defeaters to pull it apart. This allows Mr. McCloskey to settle...
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...Response Paper McCloskey Article Anthony Powers PHIL 201- C09 November 6, 2015 Response Paper McCloskey Article In his article, On Being an Atheist, H.J. McCloskey attempted to prove how that holding an atheistic pattern of thought was much easier than holding a theistic worldview. McCloskey even referred to theism as a “comfortless spine-chilling doctrine.” Since McCloskey stated that proofs do not hold a vital role in the belief of God. I would question what would play a role in the belief of God for McCloskey. Since he believes that theists come to the belief of God based on other reasons and factors rather than just believing in God for a basis of our religious beliefs, then where does the Christian philosopher fit in? As a theist we are to move away from the point of proving Gods existence and rather explain why we hold to the theist view. Relating to Forman’s presentation, the best explanation approach is the best possible way to combat this view that the proofs should be abandoned. Although we may not be able to fully establish the case for the existence of God, we are able to give reasons to believe in the God of the Universe. The amount of proof that is necessary for McCloskey to form a belief of atheism, should be examined because like theism, it can not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The explanation of the beliefs of theism is most likely the best explanation as to why a God exists. Although there is many explanations as to Gods existence, the best way...
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...Beyond Proof and Necessity: Logically Establishing God’s Existence Scott F. Davis April 29, 2013 Beyond Proof and Necessity: Logically Establishing God’s Existence Monarchs have claimed divine ascension through Him; centuries of popes have directed pilgrimages and holy crusades according to His divine wishes, and as long as mankind’s time on Earth has been in existence, brother has slayed brother in the name of one singular and all powerful God. To be certain, no telescope ever designed could reach outwards through the universe to see God’s kingdom; no microphone ever produced would be able hear the sound of God, and no camera ever invented possessed the ability to record the likeness of God--yet somehow it became inherently possible that over three billion of the earths’ population today believe in God—whether He be called Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah or the Great I Am. What remains is the time immortal question which mankind has been left to reason: Is it necessary to prove His existence? This paper serves to clearly answer the question, using logic, reason and evidence to support, that it is not necessary to prove the existence of God. Demonstrated within this paper will be the arguments of proof, or the proof of God, that is, an address of the cosmological, ontological and origination by design theories of existence, with centering on the ontological theory. Further contained will be assessments of existence as is inherently essential to evaluate...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY A THEISTIC RESPONSE TO H.J. McCLOSKEY PHIL 201-D10 FALL 2011 DR. EDWARD MARTIN BY IVAN DERRICK COOKE Cooke 2 INTRODUCTION In 1968, atheist philosopher H.J. McCloskey composed a strong argument on how being an atheist was far superior to the theistic lifestyle. This imperious article was published in the journal Question and reflects McCloskey’s view that “atheism is a much more comfortable belief than theism, and why theists should be miserable just because they are theists.”1 In his article, McCloskey seeks to disprove many of the arguments that theists believe and often seemingly ridicules or persecutes those who believe in God. Among the arguments McCloskey attempts to minimalize, there are three common proofs that many, if not all, theists lean on for their belief in God. These proofs include the cosmological proof, the teleological proof, and the argument from design. Furthermore, McCloskey speaks on the problem of evil and how the existence of evil disproves the reality of a God. Near the end of McCloskey’s article, he also insists that atheism is comforting, claiming that it is more comforting than theism. This paper will debate the validity and truth of the three claims that McCloskey seeks to discount in his article and will further debate the problem of evil and disprove the idea that atheism is comforting. PROOFS VS. ARGUMENTS ------------------------------------------------- McCloskey often slights the theistic view as one...
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...Response Paper to McCloskey Article “On Being an Atheist” H.J. McCloskey, claims that “proofs” offered by theists for the existence of God simply do not provide evidence that there is one omnipotent, omniscient being. His arguments about “proofs” question why people are theists, and why theists should abandon their arguments or “proofs”. He claims that most people do not believe in God because of their lack of knowledge about evolution, but in fact most theist believe in God and consider themselves theists, because there is documented evidence that supersedes any “hypothesis” or “theory” that scientists have on the life forms on earth, and even earth itself. “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Although an atheist may make a convincing argument about there not being a God, and we are all products of evolution, there is no documented, definitive evidence that is fact. Darwin himself even labeled evolution as such, “the theory of evolution.” However, I do believe McCloskey makes a very valid point about the arguments he, as an atheist, is challenging, and he defends his ideas very well. While I can appreciate the theory that it is possible that the universe was a cluster of stars and then one day something exploded and miraculously the galaxies and solar systems were formed and, luckily for us there was one planet that was capable of sustaining life and microscopic organisms and bacteria evolved into all living things...
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...Three Cases for the Existence of God Whether one is religious or a non-believer, theist or atheist, there are certain things in nature that even scientists can’t seem to definitively explain. In Dr. Bert Thompson’s study, he gives three very arguable cases of proof for the existence of God. The author delves into the three main arguments for the existence of God, which scientists have not been able to completely explain away with logic or reasoning, being able to present the views of both sides without necessarily becoming hostile towards the one or the other. The three cases that are presented for argument are the Cosmological Argument, the Teleological Argument, and the Anthropological Argument. In this paper, I will examine the cases and explain the benefits each gives towards the belief of a Supreme Being. The first case presented was the Cosmological Argument. It is explained that the Cosmological Argument addresses the fact that the Universe is here and therefore must be explained. In the book, Dr. Thompson explains that the Universe is a contingent entity, one that is dependent upon something outside of itself to explain its existence. For scientists, and atheists alike, there is the belief of cause and effect, or rather the Law of Casualty. This law states that every material effect must have an adequate antecedent cause. For scientists, and philosophers alike, this is the foundation of their core beliefs. There can be no effects without an adequate cause...
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...McCloskey mentions this problem several times in his article. He questions why a perfect being would create a world with avoidable suffering and evil. The logical form of the problem of evil basically says that it is logically impossible for God and evil to co-exist. A common theistic belief is that perhaps evil exists to in order provide mankind an opportunity to cultivate moral virtues. Many theists will claim that evil has occurred because mankind was allowed to have a free will. There are many theistic arguments out there that attempt to explain why God allows evil. However, it is not necessary to try to explain why God allows it to refute the logical form of the problem. Evans Manis argue that it is enough for the Christian to know that there are possible reasons. They acknowledge that it is difficult to build a strong theistic defense against the logical form of the problem. They argue that the burden of proof rests on the shoulders of atheists, to prove that the presence of evil contradicts the existence of God. Theists know that we cannot define God or completely understand His thought processes and reasoning’s for allowing...
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