Arguments for the existence of God 2

Vocabulary flashcards covering A-Level Philosophy topics on Aquinas' Way 3, contingency vs necessity, Anselm, Hume, Russell, Copleston, and related criticisms.

Contingent

Something that exists but doesn't have to exist; it begins, ends, and depends upon something else for its existence (such as humans, animals, and planets).

Necessary

Something that must exist and cannot fail to exist, which does not depend upon another thing for its existence. Aquinas identifies this necessary being as God.

Aquinas' Way 3

A cosmological argument based on contingency and necessity that is a posteriori, empirical, and inductive. It argues that because contingent things exist, a necessary being must exist to explain them.

Anselm's Ontological Argument

The argument that God is the greatest conceivable being, necessary existence is greater than contingent existence, and therefore God exists necessarily.

Gaunilo's Criticism

The objection to Anselm's ontological argument asserting that you cannot define things into existence.

Kant's Criticism

The objection to Anselm's ontological argument stating that existence is not a predicate or property.

Brute Fact

The concept, argued by Bertrand Russell, that the universe simply exists as it is and requires no further cause or explanation.

Fallacy of Composition

Hume's argument that just because every individual part of something has a cause or mother (e.g., every human has a mother), it does not follow that the whole possesses that same property (e.g., humanity as a whole has one mother).

Principle of Sufficient Reason

The principle asserting that there must be a sufficient reason or explanation for why something exists, used by Copleston to argue for God's existence.

Copleston's Argument

The argument that because the universe consists of contingent things, its overall existence requires an explanation outside itself in the form of a necessary being (God).

Infinite Regress

An unending chain of contingent causes or explanations. Critics suggest this is possible, but Aquinas and Copleston contend an infinite collection of contingent things still fails to explain why anything exists at all.

Ockham's Razor

William of Ockham's principle stating that 'plurality should not be posited without necessity,' meaning explanations should not be multiplied unnecessarily (e.g., adding God to explain a universe that can be explained without Him).

The Christian God Evaluative Weakness

The critique that even if Aquinas successfully proves a necessary being exists, it does not automatically prove the specific attributes of the Christian God, such as the Trinity, omnibenevolence, or omniscience.