Arguments for the existence of God (1) Flashcards
(27 cards)
What is an inductive argument?
An argument where the premise(s) (the argument supporting it) provide strong reasons for you to accept the given conclusion
What is A-posteriori
The inductive arguments, for the exsistence of God are also known as a posteriori (empirical). Thi smeans the Arguments are going to be based on human observation or experience. From your five senses.
What is the background to the Cosmological Argument
- Tries tp show that God exsists
- all effects have a cause
- then works on the empirical belief that every effect also has a cause
- the chain of cuases cannot go back an infinite amount of time so there must be a first causer (God)
Kalam argument and Aquinas
Summary of Aquinas Cosmological Arguments (Three ways)
From book Summa theologica
Way 1:the unmoved (unchanged changer)
Way 2:the uncaused causer (initial cause)
Way 3: Contingency and necessity
Describe Aquinas’ first way
Observation of Motion:
Aquinas begins with the observable fact that things in the world are in motion. By “motion,” he means any kind of change, not just physical movement.
Nothing Moves Itself:
Aquinas argues that nothing can move (or change) itself. For motion to occur, there must be an external mover/efficient cause “whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another”
Chain of Movers Cannot Be Infinite:
If every moving thing is moved by something else, this sequence of movers cannot regress infinitely. This is because, without a first mover, there would be no subsequent movers, and thus no motion at all.
There Must Be a First Mover:
To avoid an infinite regress, Aquinas concludes that there must be an initial “unmoved mover” that started the chain of motion but itself is not moved by anything else.
The First Mover is God:
Aquinas identifies this “unmoved mover” with God.
What is Aquinas’ Own example of the first way
Piece of wood has the potentiality to change state from cold to hot. His can only be actualised if something else (an efficent cause) that is hot touches it (e.g another piece of wood on fire). The piece of wood must have also changed state by another piece of wood and so on. This cannot go back infinite amount of times so there must have been a first changer of state
Describe Aquinas’ Second way The uncaused causer
Aquinas argues that there is a universal law that argues that ever effect in the universe has a cause (intermediate cause) This Law must be universal as it is impossible for anything to cause itself. you cannot cause yourself.
every intermediate cause (of an effect) must also have an intermediate cause.
Chain of intermediate causes cannot go infinetlly back so there must be a first causer/ultimate cause. “it is necessary to admit a first causer, to which everyone gives the name God” “out of nothing comes nothing”
Analogy to illustrate second way
Dominos falling. each domino cannot fall down on its own accord it needs another domino to fall on to it (intermediate cause). However this series cannot start without someone pushing the dominos (ultimate cause)
Describe Aquinas’ third way contingency and necessity
- The world consists of contingent beings:you were created and you will eventually die.
- Aquinas argued as a contingent being you exisit now but there was a time in the past before you exsisted and there will be a time after when you dont exsist.
- if everything in the universe is contingent then there would have been a time where no contingent beings exsisted. If this were the case then no contingent beings would ever exsist.
“if at one time nothing was in exsistence it would be impossible for anything to have begun to exisit”
* In order for contingent beings ot exisist there must be a necessary being (not reliant on creation by another) capable of bringing contingent beings into exsisitence) God is the ultimate uncaused necessary being
Parents and children
Introduction to Kalam Cosmological Argument
William Lane Craig
* More modern version
* Kalam taken from group of muslim philosphers from the 9th century
* orginal 0th century argument everything has a cause so the universe therefore has a cuase.cause of the universe must be outside of the universe itself. Non physical nature that caused the universe is God
Four statements of the Kalam argment
- Everything that begins to exisit must have a cause for its exsistence
2. the universe began to exisit - universe must have a cause of exsistence
- since no scientific explanation can provide an account of the cause of the universe it must be God.
Craig’s defence of kalam argument point two “the universe began to exisist” (library analogy)
It could be argued that the universe is infinte and exsisted forever and so it does not need a cause.
Actual infinite:some of the events
Introduction to telelogical arguments
Design Argument states that complex things like watches need designers because they are too intricate. The world is also complex and therefore needs a designer (God).
Two types
Design Qua regularity: older versions of telelogical argument. the world is too ordered/regulated to have come about by chance. (aquinas)
Design Qua purpose: Objects like eyes, have too specific a purpose to have come about by chance so it must have a designer. (Paley)
Describe Aquinas’ telelogical argument (Design Qu Regularity)
(Fifth of five ways from summa theologica)
Obserbed that all final purposes in universe seem to have been carefully designed to suppoert the development and growth of human life. (rains so we can drink, seasons change so we can grow food)
Non intelligent entities in the universe act in a way to support human life but they cannot choose to produce this support for human life, it requires a intelligent being to bring this final telos/purpos.
“whatever lacks knowledge cannot move towards and end unless it is directed by some intelligent being”
Describe Aquinas’ archer analogy (fifth way)
” an arrow is directed towards a target by and archer; just as an intelligent being exsists whom directs/orders all-natural things”
Arrow cannot fire itself towards target it needs someone to direct it
Describe Paleys Telelogical argument design qua purpose
Wrote in his 1802 book “Natural Theology”
Influnced by great roman philosopher cicero who argued “when you see a sundiall you see that it tells the time by design and not by chance”
Describe Paleys watch analogy
Watches have a set of complex parts that are fitte dtogether for the specific purpose of telling the time.it cannot have come into exsistence by chance. watch had a designer.
Just like the watch the world is complex and also appears to be designed with specific purposes.
What are Paley’s extentions ot his watch analogy
Eye which is adapted for sight has various parts which co-operate in complex ways to produce sight.
Human teeth. “At birth every part of the human mouth is perfectly formed but the design is so perfect that nature does not permit teeth to be formed untial a time when the baby has usually finished its dependence on the mothers milk”
Describe Tennants Anthropic Princible
Design qua regularity
1982 book Philosophical theology
Anthropic means related to being human, Anthropic princibles are evidences from humanity that suggests a designer.
- Chances if the Big bang and evolution randomly creating a stable universe (for human life to develop) are so remote.
without a designer the world would be in chaos
three anthropic princibles ot suggets the world is not in chaos
Tennant’s three anthropic princibles
Intelligent order:Universe is stable that it can be empirically analysed and fixed laws of nature can be deduced. e.g Newtons Laws of motion
Sustained Life: World provides us with everything we need to sustain human life. e.g water cycle
Evolution: The universe is so stable that species have been able to develop intellectually to such an extent that it can even analyse the universe it exsists it
Describe Aesthetic Princible (Design Qua purpose)
Humans possess the ability to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. Humans are the only species on the planet that has this appreciation. Appreciation is not a human survival tool.
“Beauty seems to be superfluous and has little survival value”
Omni benevolent God wanted us to live life and understand the stable universe but to enjo and appreciate it.
Who is Davide Hume?
Famous athiest who took delight in criticising religious philosophy arguments. He made four crticisms for the cosmological argument and four criticisms for the teleological argument
What are Hume’s four criticisms of the cosmological argument
Criticism 1:The fallacy of composition: The rules of cause and affect applies to the universe but just because everything in the universe has a cause doesn’t mean we can apply this to things outside of the unvierse like who created it. The universe itself does not need a cause The universe may have an infinte number of causes.
Criticism 2:Meaningfullness: Humanity can only have knowledge about the things we have direct experience of. This means it is inppossible to know what created the universe as no human was there.
Criticism 3:Evidence objection:Hume argued that there is not enough evidence to support that God created the universe because it does not empirically (a posteriori) prove God exisists.
Criticism 4: Which God?: If we accept God as the creator of the universe there is no evidence to suggest what sort of God created it
What are Hume’s four criticisms of the Teleological argument
Criticism 1:problem with analogies Hume criticises the use of human based analogies (Paley’s watch analogy) to demonstarte the fact that the universe is designed. Any analogy taht comparres the unvierse to man made human construction is wrong because it is not being compared to somehting similar like living organisms or vegetable. “Does not a plant which springs from vegetation bear a stronger resembelance than does a machine”
Criticism 2:Is the universe designed? The universe may just be chaos and a designer is not needed. Current order in the universe is just a random configeration of atoms which reorganise into a somewhat ordered way.
Criticism 3:More than one godUse of human analogies involves multiple machines, people sharing of ideas etc there is nothing to suggest that it is just one creator/God
Criticism 4: Absent designer After a watch,ship,house has been created the designer moves onto other projects, what it is to say that the designer/God has left or died after they ahve done their ‘job’
