RE Philisophy: existence of God Flashcards

1
Q

how does Aquinas’ teleological argument show that God exists?

A
  • 5th way - design argument.
  • he believed that everything has a purpose.
  • the purpose of living things didn’t come about naturally.
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2
Q

what does Aquinas’ teleological argument state?

A

intelligent objects can only by aimed towards a goal with the guiding presence of an intelligent being. this intelligent being must be God.

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3
Q

what is design qua purpose?

A

an argument which seeks to show that everything in the universe has a cause.

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4
Q

what are the problems with the teleological argument?

A
  • does everything have a purpose?
  • some animals are independent, not controlled by an intelligent being.
  • evolution
  • the purpose could be bad.
  • god is a creator but there’s natural evil
  • plato - can’t trust your senses
  • we can’t trust other people’s observations, what if they’re blind?
  • we’ve gained scientific knowledge, it changes what we believe.
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5
Q

what does William paley’s teleological argument state?

A
  • if you were to find something not complex like a stone, you’d assume it was already there.
  • if you were to find a watch, you’d question why it was there.
  • the intricate workings imply that It was designed by a creator.
  • if the parts weren’t arranged perfectly, it wouldn’t carry out its purpose.
  • the same thing applies to the universe.
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6
Q

what did david hume say about paley’s teleological argument?

A
  • weak analogy: it can’t be assumed that a watch is like the universe.
  • order doesn’t prove design: self-sustaining order could’ve come about by chance.
  • not the Christian god: even if there was a creator, it might not have been the Christian god
  • may have been more than one god.
  • universe is unique: can’t compare it to any other universe.
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7
Q

what did John Stuart Mill say about the teleological argument?

A
  • pointed out the that the amount of evil in the world is an objection to design
  • a universe with flaws is made by a flawed creator, god is presented as a perfect creator.
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8
Q

what does the cosmological argument do?

A
  • infers the existence of a creator based on claims from the universe.
  • based on the fact that the universe needs a cause so God must exist.
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9
Q

what are the 3 versions of the cosmological argument?

A
  • argument from motion
  • argument from causation
  • argument from contingency
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10
Q

what does the argument from motion state?

A
  • everything that moves is moved by something else
  • the mover must’ve been moved by something else
  • there aren’t an infinite number of movers as infinite regression isn’t possible
  • at one point, there is a mover which isn’t itself moved.
  • this is the creator, or God
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11
Q

what does the argument from causation state?

A
  • everything has a cause
  • every cause has its own cause
  • there aren’t an infinite number of causes as infinite regression isn’t possible
  • at one point, there was a first cause which isn’t itself caused.
  • this first cause is god.
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12
Q

what does the argument from contingency state?

A
  • ordinary things exist and eventually stop existing.
  • at some time none of them were in existence.
  • something comes into existence only by being caused by something else.
  • therefore there must be a being whose existence is not limited by time. this being is what people understand to be god.
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13
Q

what did david hume say about the cosmological argument?

A
  • he said that people’s mode of thinking led them to make a mistake by making a connection between cause and effect, this is where Aquinas went wrong.
  • his error is to join cause and effect together despite them being 2 different events.
  • it’s just a habit of the mind.
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14
Q

what is the nature of the ontological argument?

A
  • deductive: conclusion follows from the premise

- a priori: based on reason, without reference to any experience.

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15
Q

what does the ontological argument state?

A
  • ‘god is a being of which nothing greater can be conceived’.
  • things that exist in reality are better than things that exist in the mind.
  • if god is the greatest conceivable in the mind, he must be even better in reality.
  • therefore, god exists in reality.
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16
Q

what was guanilo’s challenge to the ontological argument?

A

anselm made an illegitimate leap from existence in the mind to existence in reality.

17
Q

how did anselm respond to guanilo’s challenge?

A

2ND ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

  • 2 types of existence: contingent and necessary.
  • contingent existence is existence that can fail to be
  • necessary existence is existence that can’t fail to be
  • necessary existence is greater than contingent existence.
  • god is the greatest conceivable being
  • he must have necessary existence and exist in reality.
18
Q

what was descartes’ ontological argument?

A
  • god is a supremely perfect being.
  • existence is a predicate of perfection.
  • therefore, God must exist as he’s perfect
19
Q

what were kant’s criticisms of Descartes’ ontological argument?

A
  • existence isn’t a real predicate: it’s not a predicate in the same way that the colour red is, for example.
  • deny the subject and the predicate: if you dismiss the subject and the predicate, you aren’t left with a contradiction.
20
Q

what were David hume’s criticisms of the ontological argument?

A

no existential statements can be analytic (factual). the ontological just thinks about God as opposed to proving his existence.