Key thinkers - Philosophy of religion

Question 1

Ontological - Anselm (11th century)

Answer 1

claims the existence of God derives from the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived.

Question 2

Ontological - Gaunilo (11th century)

Answer 2

island response to Anselm’s argument for the existence of God

Question 3

Ontological - Kant (18th century)

Answer 3

argues that rejecting God is not contradictory. But if you reject only the predicates and not the subject then it is contradictory.

Question 4

Cosmological - Aquinas (13th century)

Answer 4

argued that all the causation and motion we observe can be traced back to God, who is an uncaused cause or unmoved mover.

Question 5

Cosmological - Bertrand Russel (20th century)

Answer 5

Radio debate with Copleston. Russel believed that things in the universe just are (a brute fact)

Question 6

Teleological - Paley (18th century)

Answer 6

used the analogy of a watch to explain why biological things have an indication of a designer

Question 7

Teleological - Hume (18th century)

Answer 7

argued our understanding of how thing work on earth does not apply to the entire universe

Question 8

Verifying Experiences - Freud (20th century)

Answer 8

viewed miracles as the unconscious mind’s need for wish fulfillment.

Question 9

Verifying Experiences - James (20th century)

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Verifying Experiences - Ramachandran (contemporary)

Answer 10

temporal lobe epilepsy victims reported having deeply moving religious experiences.

Question 11

Verifying Experiences - Swinburne (contemporary)

Answer 11

principle of creduility and testimony argues we believe in God through probability

Question 12

Religious language - Hick (20th)

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Religious language - Hare (20th century)

Answer 13

a blik is something that influences how one sees the world and it is not necessarily based on fact or reason

Question 14

Religious language - Wittgenstein (20th century)

Answer 14

argued language functions in a similar way to a game. Just like each game has its own set of rules, so does language.

Question 15

Religious language - Tillich (20th century)

Answer 15

the fundamental difference between signs and symbols is that symbols, unlike signs, participate in the reality of that to which they point to.

Question 16

Religious language - Aquinas (13th century)

Answer 16

argued we can speak of God, but only through analogy

Question 17

Religious language - Flew (20th century)

Answer 17

one term, like wisdom, is completely different and meaningless when applied to God.

Question 18

Miracles - Humes (18th century)

Answer 18

believed a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature

Question 19

Miracles - Wiles (20th century)

Answer 19

rejects the possibility that God directly intervenes in the world and therefore rejects the existence of miracles.

Question 20

Miracles - Aquinas (13th century)

Answer 20

a miracle goes beyond the order usually observed in nature

Question 21

Miracles - R.F holland (20th century)

Answer 21

suggested that a miracle is nothing more than an extraordinary coincidence that is seen in a religious way

Question 22

Cosmological - Hume (18th century)

Answer 22

the fallacy of composition claims that simply because parts have a certain property doesn’t mean that the whole has that property

Question 23

Cosmological - Copleston (20th century)

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Consciene - Aquinas (13th century)

Answer 24

believed conscience was a device made by God for distinguishing right from wrong

Question 25

Consciene - Butler (18th century)

Answer 25

believed that humans were influenced by self-love and benevolence and suggested that conscience juggles between the two and acts as a guide.

Question 26

Consciene - Freud (20th century)

Answer 26

1. 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.

Question 27

Consciene - Piaget (20th century)

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

Determinism - Baron D’Holbach (18th century )

Answer 28

we’re all just “cogs in a machine,” doing what we were always meant to do, with no actual volition.