Philosophy of Religion Flashcards
Implications of God Existing
If God exists, then there is a purpose behind our existence
Purpose behind everything
Nothing is “accidental”
Implications of God not existing
If God does not exist, then there is no purpose behind our existence
Purpose is man - made
We create our own beliefs
Monotheism
Belief in one God
Deism
God created the world but left it to operate on its own
Agnosticism
We cannot know whether or not there is a God
Pantheism
God exists in everything
Teleological Arguement
There is a creator/designer behind all things
Evident in nature
Cosmological Argument
Everything has a cause - the universe
Dependent on something outside of itself for existence
St. Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways
- Argument from change: motion
- Argument from causation: everything has a cause
- Argument from contingency: things can exist and not exist
- Argument from degrees of excellence: from different things we find one that is more or less good
- Argument from harmony: things are driven by purpose, must be guided by something.
Samuel Clarke: Causal Argument
Everything must have a cause
World contains independent objects
A primary cause either exists in the object or outside of it.
It can’t exist within the object because then the existence of the object itself would still be necessary
Therefore, the cause must exist outside of the object
I.e. Necessary being
Samuel Clarke: Necessary Being/Cause
The world contains a succession of dependent “beings”
A succession of dependent beings without an original independent cause, as a series of being that neither necessity nor cause nor any reason at all for its existence, neither within or without, is impossible.
Therefore, there must be an outside source or cause that is independent.
David Hume: Contradiction within “necessary being”
It is a contradiction to demonstrate matters of fact.
Any matter of fact cannot be demonstrated because it would require to prove something by means of a priori knowledge.
Since a matter of fact is based upon experience, then reasoning is limited to what we can know. So it is just as intelligible that an objects non existence exists. If God exists, then he is a concrete being, so all concrete things cannot be necessary and concrete at the same time - that would imply that He exists but He is also his own cause - contradiction against own argument.
Aka: there is no being who’s non - existence is contradictory. Therefore, there is nothing who’s existence can be demonstrated because all propositions concerning the existence of a thing are matters of fact and thus their contrary is just as intelligible.
