Philosophy of religion test

St Anselm’s arguement of conceivability

1. By definition, god is the greatest being which can be conceived 

2. I can conceive of such a being 

3. It is greater to exist then to not exist 

4. Therefore God must exist 

Gaunilo’s Island analogy

The idea that Anselm’s theory should be able to be applied to the existence of a perfect island. This doesn’t work as an island is contingent. God is completely different from an island as God is not contingent. 

Descartes version through intuition rather than arguements.

1. I have an idea of a supremely perfect being, eg. a being having all perfections 

2. Existence is a necessary quality of perfection 

3. It is better to exist than to not exist 

4. Therefore, a supremely perfect being exists.

Kant’s criticism

This only shows that if God exists, then God exists necessarily. It doesn’t show that God does exist.

Kant objects that existence is not a quality or attribute that defines a thing. To say something exists is not to describe that thing. So existence isn’t a predicate.

The cosmological arguement - Thomas Aquinas in motion

1. Nothing can happen by itself 

2. Everything that happens must be caused by something else 

3. The universe could not have just “happened by itself. 

4. A very powerful force must have caused it into bing 

5. The cause must have ben god 

6. This means that God must exist

The cosmological arguement - Thomas Aquinas in atemporal causation

P1. We observe efficient causation.
P2. Nothing can cause itself.
P3. There is a logical order to sustaining causes: the first cause, then intermediate causes, then an ultimate effect.
P4. If A is the efficient cause of B, then if A doesn’t exist neither does B.
C1. There must be a first sustaining cause, otherwise P1 would be false as there would be no further sustaining causes or effects.
C2. As there is a first cause, there cannot be an infinite regress of causes.
C3. The first cause must itself be uncaused. That thing we call God.

Relationship between both theories

Both terms are independant from each other