...Hello Class, This week I will be answering question number one. The question asks to give at least three reasons why Descartes believed that the senses are not able to provide certain knowledge. Descartes ultimately attempted to prove that the true source of scientific knowledge was in the mind and not due to the senses. In the Meditations, Descartes began to doubt beliefs that originated from the senses. His goal was not to prove that it is impossible to know that things exists, but to demonstrate that knowledge of these things through the senses is subject to doubt. Essentially, if knowledge originates through the senses, how could one be sure that anything external exists? Since it is apparent that external objects do exist, this knowledge cannot originate from the senses, but from the mind....
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...ongoing debate. There are philosophers who claim that these two notions are contradictory. Indeed, one has questioned the necessity of evil and whether God is truly a loving god. This can be answered and/or argued on different levels depending on a certain set of perspective. Those who conform to a religion may even state various stories to prove why evil continues to persist in mankind. The people who have experienced a tragic event in the past have the tendency to stay away from any religious system.Some would even affirm that religion and the existence of God is a form of colonization and exploitation to some extent. The moral standards set by religion can affect the social...
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...God does not create everything to be perfect. If we would be perfect without sins, flaws, and problems then there would be no God, then we would be totally equal as God, and there would be no one higher and lower than us. There would be sinners, atheist, offenders in His own creation because simply He gave us free will. God allows evil to exist because of the free will. Humans is given their God-given freedom which is the free will, it is the power to make a decision of one individual instead of taking or having God to decide what to do. The Bible describes God as holy, righteous, just, and sovereign tell us that these attributes about God meant that God is capable of preventing evil, and God desires to rid the universe of evil. So, why does God allow evil? If God has the power to prevent evil and desires to prevent evil, why does He still allow evil? God could change everyone’s personality so that they cannot...
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...My essay will summarize the problem of evil and analytically assess how it is that evil weakens the traditional characteristics of God. I will attempt to explain how the existence of evil challenges the traditional characteristics of God such as omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence and Omni benevolence using Hume’s famous quote, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” (Hume) The theological and metaphysical problem of evil was formulated in 1779 by David Hume in his work “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion” where he asked the question, if God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and omnibenevolent then why does evil exist (Sherry)? The problem of evil causes us to look at the traditional characteristics of God and to analytically assess our suppositions about evil itself. If our God is a good, all powerful and just God as many people believe, then why would such a God allow evil to exist? This problem also brings to light questions about what is considered to be evil, whether it is moral evil committed by man or natural evil such as earthquakes, hurricanes and famine (Sherry). There are several arguments that have developed in reaction to the problem of evil that was suggested by David Hume. One such argument which is known as the free will defense claims that evil is solely caused by human beings, who must have the opportunity...
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...respect to religion. In Pascal’s Wager, a piece that he wrote to the Libertines, he explains not why God is real, but why we should believe in God. The Libertines disagreed by saying, “Since it is impossible to know if there is a God, then there is no reason for me to choose one way or the other.” (101) Pascal refuted this argument by stating that we, as humans, must make a choice to either believe or not to believe in God. Being agnostic is not plausible, Pascal states, since the actions of being agnostic are the same as being atheist. Pascal then states how believing in God is the only option that makes sense because if God does not exist, then there is no loss. However, if God does exist, then we either gain eternal happiness for believing, or an infinite amount of time living an infinitely horrible...
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...Does the existence of evil shows God does not exist? Most folks in the world are disheartened by the bitter fact that evil happens. People are astonishment as to why God can exist and at the same time allow the evil we see and experience each and every day in our environs to prevail (Braine 1-10). They fail to fathom the reason why the capable God would by genuine reasons agree to the notion that the power of choice should be bestowed in humans. They claim that if God is really a loving God he ought to allow his creations to decide if he really hopes to see a world where utmost love can subsists at all and they think man may misuse the ability bestowed in him to select acts in a very fierce way that does not concur with the morality principles. The byproduct of a universe where the power to inculcate love in our humanly actions is an option is the widespread ethical evil that is witnessed. Evils of various kinds exit in the world. Most of these evils are referred to as natural evil. Innocent souls die day by day because of natural calamities and tragedies. The effects of maladies, epidemics and pandemics can also not be overlooked. These widespread of natural evil seemingly has no bearing to the actions of the human beings and the types of resolutions that they make in their life time. How then can all these evils that happen be accounted for? Why would God allow such misfortunes to befall His innocent and blameless creation on earth? These burning questions that touch on the...
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...Essay 3 7/22/2015 I think that God does not exist. if God exists, if it is material, it should be seen. But I have never seen it before. if God is immaterial, that everyone can create their own God in their hearts; if God had not the slightest effect on the material world, he exists only in the spirit of the believer, this means that God does not exist in this world, like a young man, he does not like all the girls, and the girls fall in love with his own spirit, so the presence of the girl in the end does not exist? there is no reliable evidence that the existence God, therefore God does not exist. Evil exists, because the world is not peaceful, many people still suffer from war and disease. suffered physical pain is evidence of the existence of evil. at the same time, there is evil in the human, many of whom are followers of God, if God exists, then he should be good, he should do something to stop the war, or to prevent a war. he should go to cure people of illness, he should punish the wicked person. but we do not see God do these things. war still occur from time to time, the doctors treating the patients, the wicked persons are punished by law, majorities people make their own efforts to live better. When I finished reading, I think the same as i did before. my biggest problem of the existence is that if God exists, why is there evil? God is moral, he should avoid and stop the evil. philosophers to explain the existence of God are inadequately. they explained from...
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...Craig Examines both the logical and probabilistic arguments against God from suffering and evil. The problem of evil is certainly the greatest obstacle to belief in the existence of God. When I ponder both the extent and depth of suffering in the world, whether due to man’s inhumanity to man or to natural disasters, then I must confess that I find it hard to believe that God exists. No doubt many of you have felt the same way. Perhaps we should all become atheists. But that’s a pretty big step to take. How can we be sure that God does not exist? Perhaps there’s a reason why God permits all the evil in the world. Perhaps it somehow all fits into the grand scheme of things, which we can only dimly discern, if at all. How do we know? As a Christian theist, I’m persuaded that the problem of evil, terrible as it is, does not in the end constitute a disproof of the existence of God. On the contrary, in fact, I think that Christian theism is man’s last best hope of solving the problem of evil. In order to explain why I feel this way, it will be helpful to draw some distinctions to keep our thinking clear. First, we must distinguish between the intellectual problem of evil and the emotional problem of evil. The intellectual problem of evil concerns how to give a rational explanation of how God and evil can co-exist. The emotional problem of evil concerns how to dissolve people’s emotional dislike of a God who would permit suffering. Now let’s look first at the intellectual...
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...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 to combat the proof aspect of forming a belief is to simply offer the best explanation. On the aspect of the cosmological argument, McCloskey pushed the issue that the argument in itself was an “argument from the existence of the world, as we know it.” He also pushed that it was not an argument from the existence of something. His underlying point is that since the world exists there is...
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...The definition of “God” is the supernatural that is conceived as the perfect, omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe. God is the object of worship in monotheistic religions. After having studied this subject frequently back in the past and this chapter, there are many arguments for the existence of God such as the cosmological, the teleological, the ontological, and the moral arguments, etc. Although they are very powerful arguments, each one of them also has their own weakness. There are not only arguments towards the existence of God; however, there are also arguments against God as well. These are called the Empirical, Deductive, Inductive, and Subjective arguments. But, again, these arguments each also have their own strengths and weaknesses just like the arguments for the existence of God. One popular form of the Cosmological argument states that things exist and it is possible for those things to not exist; there is an uncaused caused for everything that has been brought into existence. So, according to this argument, the cause and what created the universe must have been God’s doing. However, this argument is thought by some to be completely illogical, as God would have to be caused as well. So, if God had a cause, what created God? Then there must be a higher power even above God. But yet, God is supposed to be all-powerful. Maybe it created itself? How is that possible? Perhaps the universe was always there, perhaps God was always there. I am...
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...Let’s face it, our opinions are going to be biased. Some believe in God, some believe in a higher power, some do not believe at all. So the way that we interpret these articles are all going to be different. I for one do not believe in God, mostly because why would ‘the greatest being’ in all the world decide that war, famine, disease and death are good things to have for his creations. The Ontological argument was the lease convincing argument. God is not perfect, God makes mistakes. The Cosmological Argument was easy to read and did not make me laugh as I tried to pick through them. Paley’s Teleological argument was also believable, but it and the Cosmological argument are both similar. The first ontological (a word that relates to the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence), argument for the existence of God was established by the Benedictine monk known as Anselm. Anselm defines God by saying God is that “which nothing greater can be conceived.” God is perfection and the greatest possible being. But it has a number of consequences. One of them is that it becomes impossible to demonstrate that God is not possible. How are you supposed to debunk him if he is perfect? God is said to have omnipotence, but can God create a round square? Can he defy logic?...
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...faith, especially those with very strong beliefs. We as Christians believe that God is almighty and there is really no need to believe in any other being or even question that he exists. In this article from McCloskey, he talks about God’s existence and if there truly is a God, then why is there evil in world? This essay will have my findings on the questions we were asked as class about McCloskey’s thoughts and the thoughts from the book, Philosophy of Religion. When believing in anything, people like to have proof as to why something exists. Christians might show proof in God’s existence or Atheists might show proof in that there is no God. We all have reasons as to why we believe in certain things and sometimes its can be hard to prove. McCloskey talks about proofs in his article, saying that there are proofs to the non-existence of God. In a presentation titled “Approaching the Question of God’s Existence”, the author is quite the opposite of McCloskey. He doesn’t believe that we should try proving anything; it is a word to steer away from. We shouldn’t try to find proof that God exists, but find a best explanation to why he exists. McCloskey says that proofs cannot actually make a case that there is a God. In the presentation, though, it is explained that we can make our best case for why he exists. The author says, “There are certain things we see within the universe, the best explanation is God.” (Approaching the Questions of God’s Existence) So in conclusion to the idea...
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...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 an intricate stricture, from the orbits off planets around the sun to the cells in your bloodstream could all have happened by chance? Surly, this enormously complex structure has been designed, and the being that designed it must be God. Charles Darwin argues that to be proof of God could be the result...
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...The existence of god has been a question that has overwhelmed humankind since they began to think logically. Many philosophers have argued that there is a possibility that there is a god or there is no god, or that there may even be different types of gods. It was many years ago when every person wanted to prove the existence of God. Some people argued that God exist and proved that by numerous philosophical theories or scientific fundamentals and religion explanations. On the other hand, other people do not believe in God existence and these people proved that by several speculations and scientific points. Nevertheless, it is difficult to say whether god exists or not because there is a lack of knowledge or limited knowledge considering the issue. God is an infinite essence whereas human being is only a finite substance. I think since the idea of God cannot have originated in himself, that God must be the cause of this idea and must therefore necessarily exist. However, there are three time-honored arguments for the existence of God. From those three arguments, two of...
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...Final Paper The Proof that God Exists The greatest question that man has ever asked is “Why”, as philosophers it is the 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...
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