Arguments for God's Existence

Question 1

Ontological argument original:

Answer 1

Anselm

Question 2

Ontological criticism:

Answer 2

Gaunilo and his island, rumours and defining stuff into existence
Aquinas and the fact that not everyone is a Christian so god can’t be self-evident

Question 3

Ontological criticisms of criticisms:

Answer 3

Anselm - island is finite and contingent

Plantinga - no intrinsic limit, you can just keep adding stuff to an island

Question 4

Ontological argument 2:

Answer 4

Descartes - god is perfect, existence is a property of perfection, so god exists

Question 5

Ontological argument 2 criticisms:

Answer 5

Kant - existence isn’t a property of perfection- coins

Question 6

God either exists necessarily or couldn’t exist

Answer 6

Malcolm - god can’t be contingent, so it’s either impossible or necessary

Question 7

Teleological original:

Answer 7

Aquinas - fifth way - everything has a purpose cause it follows natural laws, some can’t pick their own, so god - did admit that humans break this

Question 8

Og teleo criticisms:

Answer 8

Swinburne - order doesn’t require a creator

Question 9

Teleo 2:

Answer 9

Paley - watch analogy, trying to argue against Hume with the reproduction thing

Question 10

Anthropic argument:

Answer 10

Stuff is pretty (Tennant), science and probability prove it (Taylor, Swinburne, montefiore)

Question 11

Teleo analogy og:

Answer 11

Hume- the world machine

Question 12

Og teleo analogy criticisms:

Answer 12

Hume again - world is Not a machine, makes god more human and immoral (Dawkins and Mill agreed), could be an accident

Question 13

General teleo thoughts:

Answer 13

Darwin (nah, evolution explains order)

Kant (respect as it appeals to human reason)

Question 14

Cosmo og:

Answer 14

Aquinas!! First 3 ways- unmoved mover, uncaused causer, contingency and necessity (not everything can have been contingent or there would have been nothing so no start)

Question 15

Criticism of way 1 and 2:

Answer 15

Copleston - more like writing that a domino chain - writing implies continued necessity
Hume - effect doesn’t equal cause, why couldn’t universe have caused itself
Russell - everyone has a mother, doesn’t mean the whole human race has one mother

Question 16

Criticisms of criticisms of way 1 and 2:

Answer 16

Anscombe - you can say existence has a cause without knowing the cause tho - rabbit in a hat can’t just Appear (doesn’t explain why God tho)

Question 17

Criticisms of way 3:

Answer 17

Kant - moves from empirical to non empirical

Mackie - why is the necessary being God specifically

Question 18

Cosmo argument 2:

Answer 18

Liebniz - principle of sufficient reason - no explanation within the universe for why it exists

Question 19

Criticisms of Cosmo 2:

Answer 19

Hume and Russell - can’t move from individuals to whole collection