Philosophy of Religion: ❓the Existence of God❓ Flashcards
who is the key scholar
for cosmological
argument?
Aquinas
Who is the key scholar
for the design
argument?
William Paley
Who is the key scholar
for the moral
argument?
Kant
Who is the key scholar
for Religious
Experience?
Richard Swinburne
What examples of
design are there?
ducks webbed feet, eve
lashes
Goldilocks principle
Universe has been
designed “just right” to
sustain life
Thumb Theory
Isaac Newton
We are all unique
Richard Swinburne’s
Principle of Credulity
what I experience in everyday life is
true-so why question a religious
experience
Richard Swinburne’s
Principle of Testimony
if you believe what your friend says to
you, then you should believe them
when they say they have experienced
God
Examples of religious
experience
miracle, conversion,
prayer dream, vision
what is religious
experience?
something that goes against the laws
of nature and cannot be explained by
reason or science
criticisms of religious
experience
-hallucinations
-overactive imagination
-how do we know it is God
-does god have faviourites (only
revealing himself to some people)
-diffiult to prove if it is a personal
experience
what is the moral
argument?
-we all have a sense of right/wrong
-feeling guilty when we do wrong
-external lawgiver gives us the sense
of morality
-God is moral governor
-summon bonum-ultimate happiness
(heaven)
criticisms of moral
argument
-morality can come from
parents/education/culture
-morals are product of evolutionary
process (Dawkins)
-Atheists know difference between
right/wrong
-why assume that only god can bring
about ultimate happiness?
Criticisms of teleological
argument
-Nietzsche universe is ‘full of flaws’
earthquakes/volcanoes
-unnecessary suffering
if there is a designer can he be
described as good?
-random chance
survival of the fittest
what is Paley’s analogy?
wind up watch
-shows purpose, design,
complicated & intricate
- A watch is so complex it must
have a designer. - The eye is even more
complicated - so by using the
same argument, it must have a
designer. - The world/universe is more
comlex than the eye - this also,
therefore, must have a designer. - The designer is God.
What is the other name
for the design
argument?
The teleological argument
what is the other name
for the cosmological
argument?
The first cause argument
What is the
cosmological argument?
-everything in universe has been caused by something else.
-somehing cannot come from nothing
-chain of cause and effect
-line of dominoes-something had to start it off
-universe had to have a first cause
-first cause - eternal something had to cause it to exist-uncaused causer
-uncaused causer is God.
criticisms of first cause
Argument
-could also prove God doesnt exist
-universe could be eternal and doesnt need a causer
- ambiguous
- science can explain origin of universe
universe is an unfolding mystery.
- why one god not multiple
theist
someone who believes in God
atheist
someone who doesnt believe in God
agnostic
unsure if God exists
What is Infinite Regression?
The belief that time has no
beginning or end.
Summum bonum
Ultimate happiness/goodness which we can only reach in the afterlife this motivates us to behave morally
Categorical imperatives
Moral laws – Inner sense telling us to do the right thing, not motivated by reward
Evolution
- one species must’ve developed out of another
- plants and animals generally produce more offspring than ever can survive, those who survive or fittest, strongest and best suited to their environment – natural selection
- species have changed and evolved into the variety of plants and animal life forms we have today
- suggests universe happened by chance, no need for designer
Criticisms of the theory of evolution
- old earth view – Darwin‘s theory suggests world in and everything in it developed over time millions of years rather than six days
- not special creation – Darwin’s theory suggests no distinction between fish birds and animals, developed and created evolved from one another over time
- humans not special – theory of evolution suggests human beings have evolved over time, same as any other species and are a relatively recent part of evolutionary process, not the result of a special act of God but a result of a natural process
Big Bang theory
- 13.7 billion years ago explosion in space
- early universe expanded caused by high density and high temperature
- inflated into existence
Steady state theory
- Einstein
- No beginning to the universe at all
Oscillating universe theory
- Hinduism
- universe is created, destroyed, create it again – Kalpa
Anthropic principle
- Ward
- demands deeper explanation into conscious, intelligent life
