Philosophy of Religion Exam 2: Key Terms & Definitions

According to J.L. Mackie, the following four claims constitute an inconsistent set. Which of the four is, according to J.L. Mackie, the only plausible candidate for rejection?

There exists an omni-natured creator of the universe

An inductive/evidential version of the problem of evil attempts to show that

The evil in the universe renders God's non-existence more likely than God's existence

An inscrutable evil is

an evil which is such that human beings can identify no plausible justification God might have for allowing it

Which of the following is an example of a moral evil?

Knowingly slandering a business competitor in order to increase one's profit

If J.L. Mackie were to reformulate his logical version of the problem of evil in terms of natural evil, Alvin Plantinga would respond by appealing to the logical possibility of

The fact that all evils are contingent

A version of atheism that holds that some theists are rationally justified in believing that the theistic God exists is what William Rowe calls

Friendly atheism

According to William Alston, an inductive inference to a negative existential conclusion

Is only justified if it is based on at least a moderately thorough search

Which of the following, according to Michael Tooley, is the best explanation for the fact that human beings have not built upon the accumulated wisdom of previous generations in such a way that the progress of moral theory has modeled that of scientific theory.

Human beings already know all the fundamental values there are to know

Which of the following is not one of the examples Jordan gives of a possible conflict between self-interest and moral obligation?

A person who can get away with cheating on a final exam in a class needed for their college degree, and the degree is necessary for them to start a lucrative job

Cerro Torre is

A mountain in Patagonia

The branch of ethics that studies the foundations of moral reasoning is known as

Metaethics

Which of the following interpretations of the dependency thesis--that morality depends on God--does Matthew Jordan accept?

Moral facts do not exist unless God also exists

Which of the following is not one of the characteristics of a moral reason according to Matthew Jordan?

Being the product of mere human conventions.

The Belmont Report

Specified guidelines for the ethical treatment of human subjects in research

Aristotle's notion of eudaemonia is typically translated as

Happiness or fulfillment.

Kant's categorical imperative requires

That any being with reason and will must be treated as an end and never merely as a means

Which of the following is not one of the characteristics of religious extremism identified in the PowerPoint lecture?

It promotes works of charity

Who wrote that the real goal of extremist religious leaders was "to safeguard their false positions which they have earned without merit, simply for the sake of high office and trafficking with religion"?

Al-Kindi

Rowe: mystical vs non mystical

Non Mystical - The divine is distinct from oneself. The experience looks out from you into the world around you.

Mystical - Feeling as one with the divine

Mystical Experiences

'Awareness of another as holy' - Otto

Experiences where there is a sense of 'otherness' or 'unity' - Rowe

Doesnt include religious themed experiences not of the divine

Plantinga's Response

3' - A perfectly good being would prevent any evils it could prevent 'provided it could do so without forfeiting some equal or greater good'

Free Will Defense for Moral Evil

God could only enliminate all moral evil by not creating free creatures

Gratuitous Evil

Any unjustified evil; that is, an evil that God could have prevented without allowing some equal or greater evil or forfeiting some equal or greater good

Justified Evil

Any evil that God could not have prevented without allowing some equal or greater evil or forfeiting some equal or greater good

Divine Command Theory

"An action is morally wrong if it is forbidden by God, morally obligatory if it is required by God, and morally optional if it is neither forbidden nor required by God."

Ethical Subjectivism

Ethical values and principles are merely the product of such human subjective states as beliefs, choices, emotions and desires

Ethical Objectivism

Ethical values and principles are not merely the product of such human subjective states as beliefs, choices, emotions and desires

Religious Extremism

It advocates the use of coercive measures (either through legislation, violence, or the threat of violence) to induce others to accept the religion's distinctive beliefs and practices

It advocates the use of coercive measures to silence criticism of or rational inquiry into the religion's distinctive beliefs and practices

It discourages the use of reason as an avenue for achieving knowledge or guiding conduct and substitutes in reason's place a reliance upon revelation for the acquisition of belief

Al Kindi and Al Farabi

By "trafficking in religion" extremist religious leaders are turning what should be a sacred relationship into a mere commodity, a tool that is used to advance their private ends of power, fame and wealth

Formula of Humanity

A version of the Categorical Imperative: 'Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end' (Kant).