Key thinkers - Philosophy of religion Flashcards
Ontological - Anselm (11th century)
claims the existence of God derives from the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived.
Ontological - Gaunilo (11th century)
island response to Anselm’s argument for the existence of God
Ontological - Kant (18th century)
argues that rejecting God is not contradictory. But if you reject only the predicates and not the subject then it is contradictory.
Cosmological - Aquinas (13th century)
argued that all the causation and motion we observe can be traced back to God, who is an uncaused cause or unmoved mover.
Cosmological - Bertrand Russel (20th century)
Radio debate with Copleston. Russel believed that things in the universe just are (a brute fact)
Teleological - Paley (18th century)
used the analogy of a watch to explain why biological things have an indication of a designer
Teleological - Hume (18th century)
argued our understanding of how thing work on earth does not apply to the entire universe
Verifying Experiences - Freud (20th century)
viewed miracles as the unconscious mind’s need for wish fulfillment.
Verifying Experiences - James (20th century)
nitrous oxide and anaesthetics produce similiar effects to religious experiences. James said if a experience works for a person then that is more important than what produced it
Verifying Experiences - Ramachandran (contemporary)
temporal lobe epilepsy victims reported having deeply moving religious experiences.
Verifying Experiences - Swinburne (contemporary)
principle of creduility and testimony argues we believe in God through probability
Religious language - Hick (20th)
the parable of a theist and an atheist both walking down the same road. you can only know if theres an afterlife once you’re dead
Religious language - Hare (20th century)
a blik is something that influences how one sees the world and it is not necessarily based on fact or reason
Religious language - Wittgenstein (20th century)
argued language functions in a similar way to a game. Just like each game has its own set of rules, so does language.
Religious language - Tillich (20th century)
the fundamental difference between signs and symbols is that symbols, unlike signs, participate in the reality of that to which they point to.
Religious language - Aquinas (13th century)
argued we can speak of God, but only through analogy
Religious language - Flew (20th century)
one term, like wisdom, is completely different and meaningless when applied to God.
Miracles - Humes (18th century)
believed a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature
Miracles - Wiles (20th century)
rejects the possibility that God directly intervenes in the world and therefore rejects the existence of miracles.
Miracles - Aquinas (13th century)
a miracle goes beyond the order usually observed in nature
Miracles - R.F holland (20th century)
suggested that a miracle is nothing more than an extraordinary coincidence that is seen in a religious way
Cosmological - Hume (18th century)
the fallacy of composition claims that simply because parts have a certain property doesn’t mean that the whole has that property
Cosmological - Copleston (20th century)
argued that the existence of God can be proved from contingency, and the powerful influence of religious experiences on people’s lives makes the existence of God more likely
Consciene - Aquinas (13th century)
believed conscience was a device made by God for distinguishing right from wrong
Consciene - Butler (18th century)
believed that humans were influenced by self-love and benevolence and suggested that conscience juggles between the two and acts as a guide.
Consciene - Freud (20th century)
- The id: entirely unconscious and includes instinctive and primitive behaviours. 2, The ego: ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a acceptable, real world manner. 3. The super ego: our developing sense of right and wrong.
Consciene - Piaget (20th century)
Age 0-10: children follow morality of parents + teachers. 10-16: children start making their own decisions 16+: children make decisions without being affected by external factors.
Determinism - Baron D’Holbach (18th century )
we’re all just “cogs in a machine,” doing what we were always meant to do, with no actual volition.
