...approach. Several arguments have been presented to prove and disprove his existence based on scientific explanations and personal explanations. Scientific explanations have laws and principles that can explain the natural whys we have in our present universe. Personal explanations are provided when science can not explain the causes but provide the intentions of something just as good an explanation as the scientific one. The Cosmological Argument by Bruce Reichenbach seems to most likely to convince a rational and open-minded agnostic that they should believe in the existence of God because nothing natural in this universe could have caused the beginning of the universe. Reichenbach states that “theists are in good company when they look for explanations either of the universe or a particular phenomena within it” (p. 187). The argument Reichenbach presents has a different structure, but I will present it in a shorter form as followed: the universe (the contingent) had a beginning, so everything with a beginning/effect has a cause or explanation, the universe had a cause, nothing natural could have caused it or caused itself, therefore a non-contingent (necessary) being, we will name God, caused the universe to begin. I will discuss the primary objections to the argument and then explain why this argument would most likely convince someone, namely an agnostic, on rational grounds to believe in God’s existence. The Cosmological Argument provides, under specified conditions, a full...
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...Descartes’ Meditation 3 is a proof which attempts to provide evidence for the existence of God. Descartes gives this evidence through reasoning, starting out by describing how he comes to this conclusion of the existence of God. He does this by closing himself off mentally from the outside world, ignoring sight, hearing, and his other senses and looking deeply in himself (Cahn 496). This allows him to make an introspective look at God’s existence without the influences of another person. From this state, he organizes his thoughts and from his collective thoughts and reasoning, he deduces that God does exist due to his finite existence, a mere substance that is “not sufficient to explain my [Descartes] having the idea of an infinite substance, since I am finite, unless this idea proceeded from some substance which really was infinite” (Cahn 500) and the understanding that God is a substance that “is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent and supremely powerful” (Cahn 500). This basically means that since he should not be able to have the ability to think the way he does without either being an infinite being or having an infinite being put the thoughts into his head. This explanation appears to be extremely logical, but once it is analyzed several flaws in reasoning are picked up from the reading. I agree with most of Descartes reasoning on the existence of God, which I will clarify further, along with an explanation of the biggest...
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...us, instilling fear and insecurity. We at sometime in our lives are coerced into questioning the existence of God. The main question being “If God truly does exist why does he allow evil to occur, why doesn’t he protect the innocent”. In the dialogue between Athea, Bea and Agnos, Bruce Russell uses the characters to tackle that exact question by focusing on the argument of the problem of Evil. Athea in this dialogue is used as the protagonist in the attack of theism, he lays the foundation of the dialogue by providing the premises on which he believes that God must not exist due to the presence of evil. Bea in this dialogue is considered the protagonist in the defense of theism, he role is to highlight the weakness in the problem of evil argument and furthermore suggesting alternative reasons for the presence of evil despite God’s existence. In this essay I shall summarize the setting of the dialogue between the two main characters, then delve into the arguments that are presented. I shall first highlight Athea’s argument against the presence of God, explaining the structure and conclusion of the problem of evil argument, as this lays the foundation for the whole dialogue. I shall then focus on Bea’s reaction to Athea’s argument, clarifying her perceived weakness of the argument and furthermore pointing out her theories on why the presence of evil exists despite Gods existence. Finally I shall present my opinion on the Problem of evil, illustrating the weakness in the premises...
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...Term Paper Position Defense Sheel Patel Question: Analyze and evaluate the two proofs of God’s existence that Descartes provides. Which is more successful and more relevant? Plausible alternative answers: a) Apparently, Descartes had identified more than one way to prove God’s existence. b) The existence of God is a very solid topic to debate on and to be completely sure and convincing, Descartes gives to different proofs of the existence of God. Arguments in favor of each answer: a) He may have found out the second way of God’s existence by thinking about his own existence and him being an imperfect being. b) Descartes did not want to be questioned about his views as there was or is no guaranteed proof of God’s existence. Possible objections to the arguments: a) He cannot give the proof of God’s existence because he would have known that he took birth from his mother’s womb and was not created by God. He had to have knowledge of the basic science behind it. b) Descartes could have given one, solid and an unquestionable argument for God’s existence and not two loose questionable proofs. Possible replies to the objections: a) Earlier, Descartes provided doubts for his existence itself. Therefore, he could not have completely known that he was not made by God and that there was science involved in his birth. b) Descartes thought of them to be solid and he was not...
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...Gods existence Believers: Science is based on the premise that everything comes from something. To think that something originated from absolutely nothing is unreasonable and illogical. It would be ridiculous to look around us at all the intricacies and complexities of nature and deny the existence of a higher power and to say that all these things happened by random chance. Every group of people, every civilization believed in God or some form of after life. That is more than the people in the world squared. They can't all be wrong can they? Science involves the rejection of the belief of God but Science actually proves Gods existence. You can't destroy matter. The "Big Bang" tells of everything coming into existence out of nothing. Well obviously there must be something to have made everything, everything has a creator. Non-Believers: If there was a higher power that was responsible for everything that has and will happen on Earth, then Earth would be perfect. The theory of evolution, produced by Darwin, states that there isn't a 'God' at all. There is no authenticated evidence to suggest that 'God' does exist. Whereas, there is more than enough evidence to support Darwin's theory. The human eye is imperfect, if there was a 'God', surely he would design us so that we were perfect beings, there wouldn't be a blind spot for example. There...
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...only question that one asks. Since the birth of man kind, the question has been asked “where do we come from”; and since the birth of man kind the answer was simple, someone put us here, a person of higher being, a person often referred to as God. As a philosopher and thinker one can not simply believe in the existence of God, but ask the question why; why does God exist. There are many philosophers who dare to answer the “Why” including Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Aquinas. In answering this question there has developed three main arguments that focus on the proof for the existence of God; the Teleological, Cosmological, and Ontological arguments. The most difficult of the three arguments to understand is the Ontological argument, for it is purely logical proof; it attempts to argue from the idea of God to His necessary existence. Simply put the ontological argument attempts to prove the existence of God by stating God exists because he must. “While from the fact that I cannot conceive God without existence, it follows that existence is inseparable from Him, and hence that He really exists. For it is not within my power to think of God without existence.”(Descartes 135) Simply put, in the entire world there is a greatest, a number one, in every aspect of competition there is someone in which never loses. God must exist because there has to be a perfect being, that is almighty, omnipotent, and which non-greater can exist. And thus this being must “contain more...
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...The inquiry of the existence of God is a central question in the philosophy of religion. The notion of an omnipotent, all powerful creator is perhaps the most perplexing metaphysical notion. Philosophers have approached addressing God via a priori methods, or by modes independent of experience, or conversely, by a posteriori, or by appealing to experience. This essay will interpret and unpack the central arguments brought forth by Bertrand Russell and Frederick Copleston. “A Debate on the Argument from Contingency” is an a posteriori argument, Copleston’s bases his argument on the assumption that the universe is the sum of contingent objects, and as such, there must be a necessary being which explains its existence. The notion of contingency is essentially contested by Russell, this contention monopolizes the nature of the debate. Russell assumes the position that the notion of contingency is a useless metaphysical notion, and even if it were real, there are restrictions in the realm within which contingency operates. In “A Debate on the Argument from Religious Experience”...
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...SUMMARY OF PALEY’S EVIDENCES OF THE EXISTENCE Joseph K. Olumullah Ivy Tech Community College PHIL 220-obh-h1-201420 Instructor: Jeff Dodge 09/29/2014 SUMMARY William Paley was born in England in 1743-1805 and was a trained Anglican priest. William wrote several books on both Christianity and philosophy. One of the notable books that he wrote was teleological argument for the existence of God. His argument has gone some changes in the past years, the latest being christened “intelligent design”. This argument is the same as design argument and the only difference being that latter concludes that there is higher power that is called an “intelligent designer while the previous doesn’t called it “intelligent designer. Paley argues that...
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...Is proof for the existence of God's necessary? Monica Carter PHI 208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning Zummuna Davis October 3, 2012 When you ask a human how the universe evolved some will say that man created the universe. Next question, how can man create something in outerspace? Now the room is silent, why is that? How can you answer a question that cannot be answered. So why do you need proof that God exist, what will that prove, that people are actually worshipping God, instead of a what people say is an inanimate object. In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:1-2). There are many traditional proofs for the existence of God, and we will look at three, the argument from design, the ontological argument and the cosmological argument. There are many ways that the universe might have been, it might have had different arrangement of planets and stars; it might have begun with a bigger or smaller big bang; the vast majority of these universes would not have existence of life. We are fortunate indeed to have a universe that does. The argument of design, picture looking at a rectangular skyscraper and examined the structure within it, you might think that this intricate structure was not the outcome of mere chance, but had been designed. Now look at the universe, is it possible that such...
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...Andrew Hall Faith and Critical Reasoning 12/10/2013 What is the Eschatological goal of existence? Since the beginning of human existence there has always been some type of battle about faith, belief, and the existence of god. When this class first began I didn’t know what to expect due to my own personal beliefs and spiritual upbringing, but as the course went on I was open to different views and ways to look at what has been taught for years. Even today there is still the constant battle on whom and what is the true belief and god. But one thing is for sure we all strive for a common goal and that is to be in the grace of whatever Deity you believe in when your time on earth is done. The first thing that comes to question is your belief in the existence of God. For many the belief in god is a very challenging issue. There will always be an ongoing controversial discussion whether or not God exist. It is not unusual for people to say that it is impossible to prove the existence of God. This impossibility derives from the idea that if the observable phenomena is absent, therefore, it does not exist. In truth, how can one presume to observe the divine, something that exists in the heavens? Mere observation is clearly not a possibility when dealing with a transcendent being. Evidence in the existence of God is in every cause and effect. We understand that nothing happens in and of itself. Every event originates from a preceding event. Those events, if traced back...
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... and the Existence Requirements The existence requirement is the first premise of an argument based on the writings of Epicurus designed to oppose the idea that death is bad. The premise states that something can be bad for you only if you exist. In an attempt to revise the existence requirement so that it is acceptable, but does not conclude with death being bad for you, Kagan introduces a modest and bold version. The modest version states that something can be bad for you only if you exist at some time or the other, while the bold version states that something can be bad for you only if you exist at the same time as that thing. Kagan accepts the modest version, since it allows death to be bad for you even though you don’t exist at the same time as it occurs. Kagan then introduces a problem with accepting this version. If we also accept the deprivation account, which states that death is bad because it deprives us of life, we assume that the more years taken off a potentially long life, the worse death becomes for that person. When we simply eliminate this life altogether, however, it is not bad at all, since the person never existed. In this paper, I’ll address the badness of death (or lack thereof) and the situation of nonexistence, and how these relate to the existence requirement. I will also argue that death is not actually bad on the basis of the invalidity of the deprivation account. I will then examine both the modest and bold version of the existence requirement...
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...The existence of God has been a controversial topic discussed by philosophers over many centuries. One of the arguments for God’s existence comes from the belief that the type of God that would exist is an all just and all-knowing supernatural being that has laid down objective moral laws for humans to follow. This is called the moral argument. In this paper I argue that the moral arguments does not stand against objections when trying to prove God’s existence. This paper has five parts beginning with a thorough outline and explanation of the moral argument (1). Next I will present four objections and the theists reply to them. First is that morality doesn’t depend on God’s existence only the belief in God (2). Second, that one cannot be truly...
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...Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary The Existence of God; Science As Justification Submitted to Dr. michael chiavone Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For THEO 626 D02 By Daniel Martin Student ID: L25178504 New Orleans, LA December 12, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Introduction 1 a. Thesis and introductory explanation b. Historical development of doctrine II. Arguments for the Existence of God 3 c. Cosmological Argument d. Teleological Argument e. Anthropological III. Atheism Versus Existence of God 11 f. Evidence used to disprove God’s existence g. The believers evidence to counter IV. Conclusion 13 h. Summary of the arguments i. Applications in the church today V. Introduction The existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, monotheistic God has come up against enormous resistance from the beginning of time. Early believers such as Moses, Elijah, Paul, and Peter all had to demonstrate that their God is the one true God at times. These believers even encountered persecution and ridicule for holding on to these beliefs at times. Nevertheless the challenges to these early believers tended to be demonstrating that their God was greater than their accuser’s god or gods. At times, it was through the words of men that the God of the Bible was shown to be greater, and other...
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...The argument for existence. Rene Descartes was known for many things, but most notably, his cogito. The origin for Descartes is his inquiry into his certainties – which he quickly realises is not easy as he knows the senses can be deceived. Descartes uses hyperbolic doubt to test our knowledge to the extreme. We need to suspend judgement on any proposition, whose truth can in any way be doubted (Levene, 2010). The combination if hyperbolic doubt and the cogito lead to unshakable doubt that I exist. When we doubt, we cannot doubt, that we doubt or think for doubting is a form of thinking (Schmid, 2015). As long as one is thinking, then ones existence is certain. Some philosophers have argued against it, while some for it. Many argue that the cogito is a completely circular statement and it answers its own criticism. With many obvious flaws in the seemingly simple statement, we can see that Descartes was unaware of criticisms that have come about from his infamous...
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...C. S. Lewis once said, “God is not the sort of thing that one can be moderately interested in.” This implies that if God exists humanity ought to find the best way to relate with Him and if God does not exist then there is no need to be interested in God at all. Most theist and atheist philosopher like Camus and Sartre agree that the answer to the question of whether God exists makes a huge difference for man. For example, if there is no God then life ends in death, and therefore our existence is inconsequential. On the other hand, if there is a God, then there a chance/possibility of knowing and relating with Him as part of His creation. This paper therefore seeks to provide reasons that assert the claim that God exists in addition to responding to the popular atheistic theory of theodicy which claims that the problem of evil proves that God does not exist and if He does then He is not good and omnipotent. One of the arguments that theists use to prove the existence of God is the one of the origin of the universe. It relies on the widely popular assertion that the there was a time when the earth was not there. For centuries, human beings have seen themselves faced with the question of why we have everything instead of nothing. Atheists claim that the universe we live in is eternal with no beginning or end and that is all. Surely, that claim is not reasonable. If there is beginning point for the universe then the actual number of events that occurred in the past is infinite...
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