MODULE 2 Arguments for the existence of God Flashcards
(18 cards)
Who put forward the Design Argument? And which philosopher criticised it?
Presentation: Paley’s analogical argument
Criticism: Hume
Who put forward the Ontological Argument?
And which philosopher criticised it?
Presentation: Anselm’s a priori argument
Criticisms: Gaunilo and Kant
Who put forward the Cosmological Argument?
And which philosopher criticised it?
Presentation: Aquinas’ Way 3. The argument from contingency and necessity
Criticisms: Hume and Russell
What is Paley’s argument for the existence of God?
The complexity and purpose of nature imply a designer, just as a watch implies a watchmaker.
Provide a quote from Paley for his Design Argument:
“Every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature”
What does Paley’s analogy of the matchmaker suggest?
That the world’s order and intricacy point towards a divine creator
Define a posteriori
based on empirical observation
What are Hume’s criticisms to Paley’s watchmaker analogy?
- Limited experience: We only have experience of this one universe, so we can’t compare it to others to say whether it’s well-designed or not.
- The world is more organic than mechanical: “The world plainly resembles more an animal or vegetable than it does a watch” (Hume)
- Problem of Evil: If the world was designed by a benevolent God, why is it full of suffering and flaws? The presence of natural and moral evil suggests either a limited or indifferent designer.
What is Anselm’s Ontological argument for the existence of God?
A being such as God must exist in reality as well as in the mind, because existence in reality is greater than mere mental existence.
What type of argument is Paley’s Ontological Argument?
A deductive, a priori argument based on the definition of God as the greatest possible being
Provide a quote from Anselm
“God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived”
What are Gaunilo’s and Kant’s criticisms to Anselm’s Ontological Argument?
- Gaunilo: Argues with Anselm’s Perfect Island analogy “We can imagine an island more excellent than all others… Yet we do not believe it exists”
This shows the flaw in assuming that conceptual perfection necessities real existence. - Kant: Rejects Anselm’s assumption that existence is a defining quality (predicate).
This is because he believes you cannot define something into existence just by adding “existence” to its concept
What is the Cosmological Argument?
Classical argument for the existence of God, rooted in the idea that everything in the universe depends on something else for it’s existence.
One of the most influential versions of Aquinas’ Third Way, which focuses on contingency and necessity.
Define contingency
everything in the world depends on something else for its existence. Therefore, there must be a necessary being that causes everything else
Provide a quote for the Cosmological Argument: Aquinas’ Third Way
“It is necessary to admit a being having of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another, but rather causing in others their necessity”
Strengths of the Cosmological Argument
- based on empirical observation. It begins with what we can experience in the world, which makes it more accessible and intuitive than a priori argument like Anselm’s Ontological Argument
- supports classical theism, identifying God as the necessary, eternal cause of all contingent beings. It avoids being reliant on analogies, unlike the design argument and uses logical reasoning based on causality and existence
Weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument
- Hume and Russell criticised the assumption that the universe needs a cause.
Russell argued: “The universe is just there, and that’s all” = brute fact. - The fallacy of composition; just because everything within the universe is contingent does not mean the universe as a whole is.
- Even if the argument successfully shows that there is a necessary being, it does not prove that there is the God of classical theism.
Provide quotes from Hume and Russell that criticise the Cosmological Argument
(Hume): Challenges the principle of causation; “so absurd a proposition as that anything might arise without a cause”
(Russell): Rejects the need for a necessary being; “the universe is just there, and that’s all”.
= sees the existence of the universe as a brute fact
