...Moral Arguments for the Existence of God Name Institution Date Introduction Moral arguments around the existence of God constitute a diverse group of arguments that reason from a certain angle of moral life or morality to God’s existence, with the general understanding of God as a morally good creator. It is important to note that moral arguments are interesting considering the fact that one has to give attention to all the philosophical issues that are handled under Metaethics in order to effectively evaluate the soundness of such arguments. On the other hand, they are important considering their dominance in famous apologetic arguments in support of religious belief. The connection that apparently exists between religion and morality tends to uphold the claim that there is need for a religious foundation that can define moral truths, or that such truths can be best elaborated by the existence of God, or some actions or qualities of God. This essay focuses on the various types of moral arguments, with the intention of drawing on the distinction between practical and theoretical or pragmatic moral arguments. As such, this paper asserts that from the moral perspective, mortal obligations constitute of rules that are imposed by a supreme being that can only be explained by a Godly figure. Moral Arguments for the Existence of God There are various moral arguments that have been established in support of the existence of God, some of which will be discussed in this section...
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...PHI 208 Ethics and Moral Reasoning Instructor: Christopher Foster 2/10/2014 There are a couple philosophers that believe in different situations when I comes to the existence and the belief of God. The essay will explain the philosophers view points on the religion of God. There are a few arguments of which existence is the strongest. It will explain many aspects on science and religion, atheism, moral and human freedom on God’s existence. Believing in God and believing in God’s existence can have many aspects with different views from philosophers, the arguments will explain which philosopher is more compelling than the other. When it comes to the existence of God, some philosophers believe that it is necessary to have proof and some believe that proof is not necessary if we have faith. One philosopher named, Thomas Aquinas believed that God is from faith and first cause is the proof of God. Let’s take a look at what Thomas had to say, “that the existence of God is not demonstrable: that God's existence is an article of faith, and that articles of faith are not demonstrable, because the office of demonstration is to prove, but faith pertains (only) to things that are not to be proven, as is evident from the Epistle to the Hebrews, 11.” (Paul Halsall, 1988.) Therefore, I don’t believe that we need proof of God’s existence. I agree with Thomas that God is faith. No, proving God’s existence is not necessary because God is faith, we have to believe in God to have the faith...
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...Can one be Moral and not believe in God Tomeka Lynch PHI208 Jeffrey Porter 7/7/13 Abstract “A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death ” (Albert Einstein) Religion is about beliefs and individual views that relate to what they believe is ethical/unethical, none of those state you are less moral if you are not religious, however I can understand how confusing this could be based on the teachings of the bible and some of the plagues and deaths that was brought about by Jesus/God. I personally like the quote from Einstein. From the time that man could think, the question has been asked “where do we come from”, “how did we get here”, and “is there a God”? The question of the existence of God has been a long time debate between believers and non-believers. There are only two logical answers to the question of Gods’ existence, either God does exist or God does not exist. This paper will explore the arguments for and against the existence of God as well as explain some of the arguments that are used to come to these conclusions. Theodicy arose from the attempts to answer the question of the existence of God. St. Anselm formed the first ontological argument and believed that -Ontological arguments are arguments, based on...
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...such belief theologian looks at religous beliefs from within, as an adherent or representative of a religous tradition. philosophy of religon may be engaged in by thinkers who are not religous at all, as well as by committed religous thinkers philosophy of religion not so much religious thinking as it is thinking about religion. Religious Philosophy is Religious thinking Explain the arguments for and problems with fideism. Fideism: human beings are never religously neutral; they are always either in faithful service to or in rebellion against God. Claims that faith is the precondition for any correct thinking about religion Problem: fideist cannot attempt to win over his critics by rational argument as the presupposition of such dialouge means the possibility of common ground (fideists deny common ground) eliminates the possibility of showing the nonbeliever the superiority of a religous worldview where should one place one's faith? What 2 factors do Evans and Manis raise in answering the fideist claim that critical reflection about religious beliefs is arrogant and presumptuous? God, if real, wnats humans to reflect about religous truth the manner in which the thinking is carried on. PAGE 27 According to Evans and Manis, is it possible to be completely neutral, and is it valid? the...
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...Title: Proof of God’s Existence By: Vicki Williams PHI208 Ethics and Moral Reasoning Instructor: Barbara Palomino de Velasco June 10, 2013 The Bible diagnoses humanity's deepest need and then prescribes what it claims is the only antidote: God saves sinners. Is there an intellectual basis for believing in God? Or is being religious just a matter of faith? Christianity invites scrutiny into its claims and its reasons for having faith and these deserve examination... Some people feel that acceptance of God is entirely a matter of faith. But the Scriptures actually claim that it is the truth which is the basis for this faith (Rom. 10:17). Truth is only truth if it is objective truth, that is, it is true for everyone regardless of time or circumstances. Thus, God is either true (and there can be objective proofs to support this), or He is not true and only subjective 'truth' can be offered for 'proof'. Some ancient Philosophers have argued that the fact mankind can imagine there being a God is a proof that there must be one. While this argument does have some merit, it mainly has limitations. Taken to its natural application this means that if anything can be imagined it must exist. Based on the nightmares I had as a three and four year old boy- I really hope this theory isn't true or I'm not going to sleep well tonight! On the other hand, 'beliefs' and 'truth' are sometimes not entirely related. Tertullian once bragged that the main reason he so readily accepted...
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...Introduction – What is God? God is considered as someone who created the entire universe and the one with the highest level of power. The idea of God is perceived differently in various religions. Starting from the name to the identity and attributes, everything is distinct and separate according to the basic rules of every religion and cultural norms. Primarily people assume that God doesn’t have any particular shape or cannot be depicted in any kind of visual form, but still in some religion people use the male gender to represent God. God has created every single living creatures and he is the one who knows everything and has full authority on what happens in the world and in everyone’s lives. He is someone who is worshipped by his devotees and the way he is worshipped or the way people believe in his existence is subject to the particular religion that one follows. Over the years, many philosophers have tried to contribute their ideas to come up with the most appropriate definition of God and to justify the relation between God and this world. In this report, those conceptions are going to be discussed and finally comments and arguments will be made regarding one specific conception, which will be deemed better or most agreeable compared to the other provided conceptions or arguments. Religious Conceptions of God In order to classify people based on their belief, religions have been divided into 2 major groups. * Theistic * Atheistic Theistic group of people...
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...God - A Myth or Reality? C.S. Lewis once aforementioned that God is not the sort of subject one can be somewhat interested in. Yet, if God does not exist, then there is no cause to be concerned of Him. However, if He does exist, then this is of preeminent discussion, and “our ultimate concern ought to be how to be properly related to this being -- God -- upon whom we depend on moment by moment for our very existence” (Craig, 2014, p. 1). Another quote of C.S. Lewis’s says, “Atheist rage against God; however, they claim that His presence does not exist.” The debate of God’s existence continues to grow each day; in the 2007., the percentage of Americans that claimed to be an atheist was 1.6%. However, in 2014, the numbers grew to 3.1%. That is 1.5% more than in 2007 (Lipka, 2015) . The problem, however, is that at one time many of the percentages believed in God. “Atheism” has turned into a rage against God, but wait, I thought that in their view God did not exist, that He was just a myth. Moreover, a few of the ongoing disputes between Atheist and Christians are the Cosmological Argument, the Teleological Argument, the Ontological Argument, and the Moral Law Argument; these...
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...can be defined as the love of wisdom and theology is described as the study of God. They have some similarities and differences. Philosophy is a compile of ideas related to human nature. It is considered as a guide through out a person’s life addressing issues that maybe basic and pervasive defining the path we choose to take and how we treat others. Philosophies are based on logical arguments and rely on facts. The topic of philosophy can address several different areas such as: the theory of reality metaphysics, the theory of knowledge epistemology, the theory of moral values ethics, politics the theory of legal rights and government, and the theory of the nature of art aesthetics. However, the most common system of ideas is...
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...Guide: Lesson 18 Arguments for the Existence of God Lesson Overview: In this lesson, we arrive at 1 of the most important questions of the course for Christians: Do we have good reasons to believe that God exists? Today, many are claiming that there is no evidence for God’s existence and those who believe in God are just deluding themselves. However, this lesson will show that some very interesting arguments have been developed throughout the history of philosophy that demonstrate that the theist is within his epistemic rights in believing in God. While the case is not 100% certain (few things are in philosophy), it is certainly reasonable in the absence of any contrary evidence to hold that God exists as the best explanation for certain effects we observe in creation. Tasks: View and take notes of the presentation: “Arguments for God’s Existence.” Read “The Absurdity of Life without God” by William Lane Craig. This reading by Christian philosopher William Lane Craig is titled the “The Absurdity of Life without God.” In this powerful argument, Craig seriously considers the ramifications for us if in fact there really is no God. I assign it to my students on campus and they always tell me it is their favorite reading of the semester. I think you will really enjoy it. It is not a difficult reading and is very powerful on a personal level. While it does not prove God's existence, it does add positive epistemic evidence for the cumulative case for God as the best explanation...
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...Kant’s moral argument focuses on the notion that God must exist to provide structure to the moral universe. Technically he did not believe that is was possible to prove the existence of God through rational or empirical means. It is important to outline two key ideas before explaining the details of the moral argument. These ideas centre around his assumptions of the universe: that the universe was fair; and that the world around us is fundamentally rational. He begins with the unspoken assumption that the world is fair, owing to the dominance of the enlightenment belief that the universe was fundamentally knowable through reason. It is important to note that Kant began a new way of looking at knowledge. He believed that we could know the world through reason in a prior synthetic way. This was a complete change from how the world had been view previously and was known as Kant’s Copernican revolution. In essence Kant believed in two separate worlds of knowledge: noumenal and the phenomenal worlds. The noumenal world is the world as it truly is without being observed. It is fundamentally unknowable because the act of observation changes the very thing that we observe. It is as though human beings have a specific set of spectacles that cannot be taken off and like the proverbial rose tinted ones they change our perception of the world around us. This personalised view of the universe is the phenomenal world. However, what is key to explaining Kant’s moral argument is the fact that...
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...The cosmological argument (i) Examine the view that the cosmological argument provides an explanation for the world and is a trustworthy basis for belief in the existence of God. (21) The cosmological argument, also known as the first cause argument, is a classical argument for the existence of God. The word cosmological comes from the Greek for order and it is an inductive argument as the premises are true but the conclusion may not be, and it is also synthetic where the truth is determined by experience and needs to be proven. It is also a posteriori and also based on natural theology. The Cosmological argument finds its answer for the start of the universe through causes, meaning everything is caused by something, or everything is dependent on something else. The argument attempts to find proof for God’s existence stating that as something cannot come from nothing God must exist in order for anything and everything else to exist. The origins of the cosmological argument come from Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. Plato 428-347 BC records one of the earliest versions of the Cosmological arguments in his book of ‘Laws’. Plato writes about the argument through an exchange between an Athenian and Clianis. The Athenian attempts to prove the existence of the gods by arguing that, of all the different types of motion, the motion “which can move itself” is “necessarily the earliest and mightiest of all changes”. It is clear from his argument that infinite regress...
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...Theology Revision Plato Plato lived in Athens in the 5th and 4th Centuries BC He was the student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle He was a dualist- believed in the body and the soul He believed the soul was more perfect than the body He believed that societies should be run by philosophers He believed the physical world is a pale imitation of the world of the forms The allegory of the cave The prisoners- normal people of society The prisoner who escapes- philosophers, people that thirst to know the real truth The people casting the shadows- the leaders of society- shaping the world without knowing the truth The shadows/statues- what people believe is reality, what they are told to believe, things people deem to be important The cave- a world without knowledge, the physical world/the body The fire- controlled, dim light- limited knowledge. An imitation of the form of the good The journey outside- a difficult journey, acquisition of knowledge The sun- illuminates the true world- form of the good The journey back into the cave- the desire to educate and inform others of the truth The world of the Forms Forms Plato uses the word ‘form’ to describe the true essence of material objects in the world This idea of the ‘form’ exists in a non physical (yet more real) realm that can only be understood by the mind. This is called the world of the forms Plato believed that the forms were interrelated and hierarchical The highest form The ultimate principle...
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...God and the Problem of Evil Liberty University Bob Cox The debate of whether God exists has been going on for centuries. Atheists and theists have opposing views on how the universe as we know it came in to being. According to atheism, evolution can explain all we see in the universe. The process of evolution which began with the big bang started the universe and all that is within it. Theists see the world full of design and order and believe it came about through an intelligent creator. Atheists do not believe in God because they have not seen clear proof that he exists (McCloskey, 1968). In his article “On Being an Atheist”, H. J. Mccloskey explains why he believes that God does not exist. The theist believes that an intelligent creator is the best explanation for all that we experience in the universe. Personal experience leads many to begin to think about God. Some wonder about the purpose of their life; while others might be struggling reasons for pain and suffering. It helps to believe that our pain and suffering are for some ultimate purpose and that eventually some good can come from it. Faith in God can be arrived at intelligently through reason. We may not be able to prove that God exists but there is convincing evidence to believe he does. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions about what we believe and why we believe it. Our answers will help to strengthen our own faith and give others something to think about. If something is worth believing, it is worth...
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...marches in order to avoid the Allied liberation of big numbers of prisoners. As allied forces transitioned across Europe in a series of offensives against Germany, they began to experience and setting free concentration camp prisoners. On May 7,1945, the day the Geramy armed forces had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces and the marches ended on that day too. (Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2015) In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with that of God who is all powerful, all knowing and all good. An argument from evil attempts to show that the co existence of God is more than unlikely and attempts to show contraction which is know as Theodicy.(Tooley, 2015). Jews views Nazi’s regime as a great evil and Adolf doesn't have the right to murders jew as they are viewed as inferior beings in the Nazi. Jews interpret these happenings are just not possible, but given their worldview which includes belief that God exist, they are...
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...over until the end of time, it will be the existence of god. In debating the existence of god, we must consider all arguments for and against whether or not god exists. The most commonly debated argument when arguing against god is the problem of evil. Evil is defined as the existence of human pain and suffering. If there is a god, and this god is all loving, all knowing, and omnipotent then how can there be evil in the world? How could a god allow human pain and suffering where seemingly none is deserved? There are many arguments retorting to this, but two stand out. First, God created the best possible world. Evil plays an important role in our world, the world is better off with some evil than it could be with no evil. Second, moral evil on our planet is due to human free will. Since God gave us freedom, which is a necessity of a perfect world, it is the fault of humans that moral evil exists. It is the combination of these two arguments that prove god and evil can coexist. In disproving the validity of the “problem of evil” we only need to prove the possibility that god could coexist with evil. We should also note that there are two different types of evil; natural evil which includes natural disasters, and moral evil which involves humans causing pain and suffering upon other humans. Abler 2 Evil is in the eyes of the beholder. If you are a Theist, you believe that evil is wrong and God is all powerful and is able to rid the world of its evil...
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