A-level philosophy: arguments for the existence of God through observation and reason

ontological, teleological and cosmological arguments

what argument is the ontological argument?

argument from reason

what argument is the teleological argument?

argument from observation

what argument is the cosmological argument?

argument from observation

what does an argument from contingency mean?

the idea that all things are dependant on each other

eg- water flows dow

what does a contingent argument mean?

the view that there must be something to explain the existence of the universe

what is St. Anselm's quote about the argument for Gods existence?

God is a being than which nothing greater can be conceived

what is the ontological argument?

it is a deductive priori argument from reason

what does deductive priori mean?

reasoning for a principle that uses logical deduction to make conclusions without depending on external evidence

what is a priori thinker?

someone who relies on reasoning and prior knowledge instead of experience

what is a deductive argument?

when the conclusion follows from the statement- if the statement is true then the conclusion must follow

eg: a bachelor is an unmarried man, George is am unmarried man so therefore George must be a bachelor

what did Anselm conclude about the existence of God?

he concluded that "a being than which nothing greater can be conceived" so given that God is the greatest that can be conceived he. must exist in reality since it is greater to exist in reality than just as an idea

what are Anselm's first argument?

God is the greatest possible being, nothing greater can be conceived- atheists can still define God despite not believing

something that really exists is bound to be greater than something that just exists in thought- imagine winning the lottery it is better to actually experience the real thing

if there is no being greater than God then God must exist in both reality and in thought- apply step 2 to 1 and logically God must exist, if you can conceive him he must exist

how did Guanilo criticise Anselm's argument?

Guanilo argued that Anselm's logic could be applied to a number of absurd scenarios he used the example of a perfect island where he stated that the most perfect island must exist in both the mind and in reality because it is the 'most perfect' but it doesn't exist so it is absurd to say just because you have an idea of something it must exist

what is the perfect island example?

it was used by Guanilo to critique Anselm's ontological argument- he imagined a perfect island where it had an abundance of all good things, Guanilo said that according to Anselm's logic this island must exist in reality. furthermore he said that in order for this perfect island to be perfect it must be unlike any other existing island, in this case it could not have actual existence but could only exist in imagination

what is Thomas Aquinas' criticism of the ontological argument?

he stated that it is perfectly for a person to have an image of a "non-existent God", the final step of Anselm's argument doesn't take that into account- the definition is flawed and it may not be everyones definition and so you cannot form an argument based on it

what is Descartes version of the ontological argument?

he argued that people are born with some ideas already imprinted in their minds, including the idea of God- we know God to have all perfections as his attributes

He stated that existence is a perfection, therefore God must exist as he cannot lack any of the perfections:existence cannot be separated from God

what is Descartes' argument for the existence of God?

he argues against Guanilo's criticism of Anselm and provides 3 stages:

stage 1: explain what 'necessary' means- certain ideas are necessary to the definition of God

stage 2: give your argument- God is a supremely perfect being and a supremely perfect being has all perfections; existence is one of them, therefore God has existence

stage 3: why it works- the argument only works for a perfect and necessary being can't be applied to an island God is the being who's essence entails Gods existence so there can't be two or more beings who are perfect

what is Anselm's 2nd argument?

he stated that God is that than which nothing greater can be thought- contingent beings which are beings that depend on other things for their existence are inferior to necessary beings which depend on nothing and exist eternally

God is inferior to nothing else and so must have necessary existence, therefore God must exist necessarily

what is a predicate?

a term which describes a distinctive or defining characteristic of something- eg a pen contains ink or a clock has 12 numbers

what is the cosmological argument?

Argument from causation, everything has a cause therefore the universe has a cause; that cause is God

who created the cosmological argument?

St. Thomas Aquinas

who created the ontological argument?

St. Anselm

what is Aquinas' first way and what does it talk about?

the argument from motion:

*principle of motion-everything in the world is in motion or undergoes change

*unmoved mover-there must be a first mover that sets everything in motion but itself is unmoved

*God as uncaused cause-this unmoved mover is identified as God who initiated all motion without being subject to any prior motion

what is Aquinas' 2nd way and what does it talk about?

the argument from efficient causes:

*principle of causality-everything in existence has a cause

*uncaused first cause-there must be an uncaused first cause that set off the chain of causes in the world

*God as uncaused cause-this uncaused first cause is identified as God who is the ultimate cause without being caused by anything else

what is Aquinas' 3rd way and what does it talk about?

the argument from contingency

*principle of contingency- everything in the world is contingent meaning it depends on something else for its existence

*necessary being- there must be a necessary being one that does not depend on anything else for its existence

*God as a necessary being- this is a necessary being who is identified as God who is self existent and does not rely on anything else for its existence

what are the strengths of the cosmological argument?

it appeals to our everyday experience of cause and effect making it intuitively understandable

presents a logical structured series of premises leading to the conclusion of a necessary uncaused cause

what is the anthropic principle?

a concept that reflects on the apparent fine tuning of the universes' physical constants and conditions, suggesting that the universe appears to be designed to allow for the existence of intelligent life

what did Gottfried Leibniz argue?

he was a supporter of Aquinas and he gave the principle of sufficient reason

what is the principle of sufficient reason?

states that everything must have a reason or a cause

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