eval introduction to inductive proofs

Question 1

strength - it offers a simple and logical explanation for the cause of the universe…

Answer 1

• at the moment science cannot explain what caused the universe
• it makes sense to say that it is an omnipotent, omnibenevolent being

Question 2

strength - the argument is based on empirical evidence…

Answer 2

• this is good because it is evidence that we can all experience

Question 3

strength - can be used as part of a cumulative case…

Answer 3

• on its own it may not prove god, but when you add it to other arguments a stronger case can be built for gods existence
• for example, the design argument, religious experience, reports of miracles

Question 4

strength - based on our experience of cause and effect…

Answer 4

• we can observe that everything has a cause

Question 5

strength - we know from scientific evidence that the universe is expanding…

Answer 5

• therefore there must be a beginning

Question 6

weakness - Aquinas make a huge leap from saying there is a first cause to saying the first cause is god…

Answer 6

• even if there is a first cause, there is nothing to prove that it is the god of classical theism
• there may be a number of causes of the universe

Question 7

weakness - Kant

Answer 7

• kant pointed out that we have no experience of the beginnings of the universes, so we cannot make claims about it

Question 8

weakness - Hume and Russel

Answer 8

• both argue that the universe does not need a first cause
• infinite regress is possible
• perhaps there is no explanation
• Russel argues that the universe is a ‘brute fact’

Question 9

weakness - Flews 10 leaky buckets

Answer 9

• arguments for gods existence make a ‘bucket’ but the flaws of all these arguments make holes in the buckets
• it is pointless trying to fill up a bucket with holes in it

Question 10

weakness - science big bang theory

Answer 10

• 13.7 million years ago there was a singularity (explosion) which inflated, exploded and cooled to give us the universe we have today
• we are more likely to trust science in modern society due to technological advances

Question 11

weakness - multiverse / string theory

Answer 11

• the most recent scientific theory
• there is more than one universe, universes begin and end but the multiverse is infinite

Question 12

weakness - Kenny

Answer 12

• this argument is based in the premise that nothing moves itself or causes itself but the people and animals move themselves

Question 13

weakness - fallacy of composition

Answer 13

• we make an assumption when we say that what is true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it
• Russel expressed it with the illustration - every individual human being has a mother but it is a fallacy to assume that the human species as a whole has a mother

Answer 14

• Russel expressed it with the illustration 0 every individual human being has a mother but it is a fallacy to assume that the human species as a whole has a mother
• this argument is based on contradiction - it rejects infinite regress but states that god is infinite

Question 15

weakness - this argument is based on contradiction

Answer 15

• it rejects infinite regress but states that god is infinite