arguments for existence of god based on observations Flashcards
Who created the cosmological argument ?
St Thomas Aquinas
What are the three main points of the cosmological argument (without explanation) ?
argument from motion
argument from causation
arguments from contingency
What is the argument from motion argument?
nothing can change or move without being moved by something else .the world is constantly moving and aquinas rejects infinite regress so the these must be a mover but not one that goes back for ever (as said he rejects infinite regress) so mover must be an unmoved mover - this is god
What is the argument for causation ?
in world everything has a cause - cause and effect , nothing is cause of itself so what caused universe and life ? - uncaused causer - god
What is argument for contingency?
nothing has necessary existence so everything could have not happened - deponent . There was a time where nothing existed and so must be a necessary being who has been around forever - god
What did Leibniz argue ?
principle of sufficient reason - everything we see has a reason and everything relies on something else - nothing has its own reason so how do we have universe - must have necessary being - god
What are the weaknesses of the cosmo argument ?
- why should rules that apply to inside of the universe apply to outside the univsere
- inductive leap
Bertrand Russell - “ the universe is just a brute fact ‘ doesn’t need explanation for example we all have a mother and are all part of human race but the human race doesnt have a mother (the argument against this is that we cannot simple down the existence of the universe to brute fact - something caused the argument ) - argument against the argument against Bertrand is that big bang theory is not accepted by all so doesnt need cause
- why are we so quick to say infinite regress is not the answer
Who is the original aruguer for the teleological argument ?
Aquinas
What does Aquinas use in telelogical argument ?
his fifth way - he says world looks designed so must be designed by a god - an archer and a bow is nothing without the human supporting it and placing the arrow in the bow
Who adapted teleological argument ?
William Paley
What was William Paleys analogy ?
watch maker analogy - he is walking and notices a rock so assumes its from nature but then he walks past a watch and sees how Intricate it is and assumes it has been designed by a designer for a purpose world is far more intricate so must be designed - this is the deisgn qua purpose argument
design qua regularity - if the world was created any closer to the sun we would be dead and if gravity was any stronger we would be too so it was created perfectly with purpose of us being created so must have a designer .
What are the weaknesses of the watch maker
argument ?
- an analogy - the world is organic and the watch is mechanical entirely different things
- we have seen watch being made we cannot say the same for the world
- it puts us down an anthropomorphic path giving god just super human powers and God should be far different
- who designed god
- Hume said a flawed world implies a flawed designer
Quote from Hume ?
a flawed world implies a flawed designer
