Arguments for the Existence of God

Question 1

What is an inductive argument?

Answer 1

An argument based on observation of regularities; an argument where the truth of the premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion

Question 2

What is a deductive argument?

Answer 2

An argument based on logical connections; an argument where the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion

Question 3

What is a priori knowledge?

Answer 3

Knowledge that is available to us before any sense experience

Question 4

What is a posteriori knowledge?

Answer 4

Knowledge that is gained as a result of experience

Question 5

Which scholar is associated with the analogical (design) argument?

Answer 5

William Paley

Question 6

What is Paley’s analogical argument?

Answer 6

1) When we see something which has signs of design (purpose/complexity), we assume a designer - e.g. a watch implies a watchmaker
2) The universe is far more complex than a watch and therefore implies an infinitely complex and intelligent designer
3) This designer must be God

Question 7

What is the name of Paley’s book, containing the design argument?

Answer 7

Natural Theology

Question 8

Which two things are found on the heath in Paley’s analogy?

Answer 8

A rock and a watch

Question 9

Give an example of design in the world that Paley uses to prove the existence of God

Answer 9

Features of animals and humans - eyes, bones, digestive system, blood vessels etc.; adaptations which show species are suited to their environments and that God compensates for lacks (e.g. trunk on elephants make up for short neck, spiders’ ability to spin web); physical laws governing the planets that make life possible

Question 10

What manmade device does Paley compare the human eye to and why?

Answer 10

Telescope - designed by intelligent humans but modelled upon the eye; the eye is even more complex as it is able to adjust to different conditions (light/dark)

Question 11

Is Paley’s argument inductive or deductive?

Answer 11

Inductive - it is a best inference based on the observations Paley has made of nature

Question 12

Does Paley argue a posteriori or a priori?

Answer 12

A posteriori - he makes his argument after observing regularities in the natural world

Question 13

What is the name of Hume’s work that critiques the Design and Cosmological arguments?

Answer 13

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

Question 14

How does Hume present his criticisms of the Design and Cosmological Arguments?

Answer 14

Dialogue form - characters having a debate

Question 15

What analogy do the characters in Hume’s dialogue use to present the Design Argument?

Answer 15

A house

Question 16

How does Hume criticise the Design Argument?

Answer 16

1) Problems with analogy - the two things being compared must be similar
2) Anthropocentrism - we assume God must be like a human designer, but spiders making a design argument might imagine God to be spider-like, spinning universes out of instinct rather than purpose
3) Why not a team of designers? A house would have multiple builders
4) Problem of Evil - there are problems with the design which suggests a designer who is not omnipotent/omnibenevolent

Question 17

Give a strength of the Design Argument

Answer 17

1) It is based on evidence which is readily available to most people; many people feel awe and wonder at the natural world
2) Many religious believers still appeal to arguments from probability similar to Paley’s - due to the low probability of life developing in the universe, the fact we are here is evidence God created the universe (fine-tuning)

Question 18

Give a weakness of the Design Argument

Answer 18

1) Paley made his argument before Darwin’s theory of natural selection. We now understand why the world is full of apparent purpose and complexity - evolution selects for traits which best adapt to the environment
2) Against the argument from probability, it can be argued that it is not “unbelievable” that we are here, as all unlikely events will happen at some point in an infinite universe and we are biased in that we are the ones observing them (anthropic principle)

Question 19

Give two reasons why the Design Argument has value for people of faith

Answer 19

1) it reminds religious believers that the world is beautiful and complex, strengthening their faith
2) it shows that religious belief is not irrational but can be supported through inductive methods

Question 20

What type of argument is the argument from contingency and necessity? (Cosmological)

Answer 20

Inductive

Question 21

Which of the five ways is the argument from contingency and necessity?

Answer 21

Third Way

Question 22

What is a contingent thing?

Answer 22

Something that may exist or may not exist/depends on something else for its existence

Question 23

What is a necessary thing?

Answer 23

Something which must exist/does not depend on anything else for its existence/cannot not exist

Question 24

Who makes the argument from contingency and necessity?

Answer 24

St Thomas Aquinas

Question 25

Where would the argument from contingency and necessity be found?

Answer 25

Summa Theologica

Question 26

Explain the argument from contingency and necessity

Answer 26

1) Everything we observe in the universe is contingent, depending on something else for its existence
2) If everything is contingent then at some point there must have been nothing
3) If there was nothing, no contingent things could have come into existence, which is an absurdity
4) Therefore, there must be a necessary being on which all the contingent things depend
5) This being is God

Question 27

What is the fallacy of composition?

Answer 27

Assuming that what is true of all the parts of a whole is also true of the whole. e.g. all atoms are invisible, trees are made from atoms, therefore trees
are invisible

Question 28

How does the Cosmological Argument commit the fallacy of composition?

Answer 28

Just because all contingent things dependent on
other things for their existence does not mean the whole set of contingent
things also depends on other things for its existence

Question 29

How does Hume criticise the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 29

1) It commits the fallacy of composition
2) It is meaningless to speculate about things we know nothing about - “Never look beyond the present material world”
3) The universe itself could be the necessary being
4) God cannot be truly necessary as we can imagine him not existing without contradicting ourselves

Question 30

Where does Bertrand Russell present his criticisms of the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 30

1948 Radio Debate

Question 31

Who was Bertrand Russell’s opponent in the 1948 radio debate?

Answer 31

Frederick Copleston

Question 32

How does Russell criticise the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 32

1) The universe should be accepted as a brute fact - it requires no further explanation
2) Aquinas makes the mistake of using the word ‘necessary’ to describe beings, but it can only be used legitimately to describe (analytic) statements - e.g. ‘a triangle has three sides’ is necessary because we cannot imagine it to be false
3) Fallacy of composition: Just because every human being has a mother, this doesn’t mean that the human race as a whole must also have a mother

Question 33

Give a strength of the cosmological argument

Answer 33

1) Still an open discussion as even the Big Bang could be argued to be a contingent event, and many people ask why there is something rather than nothing
2) We can all agree that everything is contingent
3) Russell’s criticisms are not all fair - Copleston accuses him of sitting at the chess board and refusing to make a move when he says we cannot answer the question of how the universe was created

Question 34

Give a weakness of the cosmological argument

Answer 34

1) Occam’s Razor - if the universe alone is a sufficient explanation for itself, we shouldn’t add God into the explanation as an unnecessary addition
2) Arguably the conclusion ‘That being is God’ is a logical leap - we do not have the right to assume that the necessary being is an all-loving God

Question 35

Give two reasons why the Cosmological Argument has value for people of faith

Answer 35

1) Like the Design Argument, it uses observation to show that it is reasonable to believe in the existence of God
2) It reminds believers that they depend upon God for their existence, giving them a feeling of gratitude

Question 36

Who made the Ontological Argument?

Answer 36

St Anselm

Question 37

In which text would you find the Ontological Argument?

Answer 37

Proslogion

Question 38

What type of argument is the Ontological Argument?

Answer 38

A priori / deductive

Question 39

According to Anselm, ‘God exists’ is what kind of statement?

Answer 39

Analytic

Question 40

Explain the Ontological Argument

Answer 40

1) God is that being than which nothing greater can be conceived
2) It is greater to exist in the mind and reality than the mind alone
3) Therefore God exists in reality and in the mind

Question 41

Explain Gaunilo’s criticism of the Ontological Argument

Answer 41

Parody argument to show how ridiculous Anselm’s logic is:
1) The Lost Most Perfect Island is that island than which nothing greater can exist
2) It is greater to exist in the mind and reality than the mind alone
3) Therefore the Lost Most Perfect Island exists in reality
We know the island does not exist so Gaunilo is showing that you cannot define things into existence.

Question 42

Explain Immanuel Kant’s criticism of the Ontological Argument

Answer 42

Existence is not a predicate - it adds nothing to the definition of a thing and therefore contributes nothing to its greatness/perfection

Question 43

What example does Kant give to illustrate his criticism of the Ontological Argument?

Answer 43

100 thalers (coins) are always 100 thalers regardless of whether they exist in reality or the mind alone - they are not greater for really existing

Question 44

How could a supporter of the Ontological Argument respond to Gaunilo?

Answer 44

God is not an island - we can all agree on what it means for God to be perfect but we have different ideas about a perfect island - therefore the analogy is invalid (Plantinga)

Question 45

Give a strength of the ontological argument

Answer 45

1) It does not rely on observations which may later be disproved, and so is stronger than the Design/Cosmological arguments which have been weakened by science
2) Both premises seem to be true even to an atheist so it is hard to find fault in the argument

Question 46

Give a weakness of the ontological argument

Answer 46

1) “That being than which nothing greater can be conceived” tells us nothing about God - for example it does not prove why this being must be the Christian God
2) Philosophers and theologians who consider God to be beyond understanding might argue that we cannot imagine “That being than which nothing greater can be conceived”, and therefore that God does not really exist in our minds

Question 47

Give two reasons why the Ontological Argument has value for people of faith

Answer 47

1) As an a priori deductive argument, it shows that faith is compatible with reason and logic
2) Anselm says his argument proves that atheists are unreasonable, not Christians: “the fool says in his heart there is no God” (quoting Psalm 14 of the Bible)