The Existence Of God - Arguments Based On Observations Flashcards
The cosmological argument
The Cosmological Argument.
argument in favour of the existence of God.
a posteriori/inductive argument based on the observation of motion, cause and effect, and the contingency in the universe.
includes Aquinas 3 Ways
unit 1
deductive argument
premises are true therefore the conclusion is true.
(E.G. all spiders have eight legs, tracheales are spiders. therefore, tracheales have eight legs.)
inductive argument
inductive argument
Needs investigation/ evidence.
Premises provide support to conclusion.
E.G. every dog is friendly.
posterior (post - after experience)
In order to prove its validity
rely on experience rather than on logical analysis to reach conclusion
unit 1
priori
(Don’t need to investigate)
Self-evident, does not need evidence/validation for proof
E.g a square has 4 sides
St Thomas Aquinas
He believed that the existence of God could be proven in five ways
- summa Theologica (his greatest book)
Aquinas’ first 3 ways
- The unmoved mover
- Uncaused cause
- contingency and necessity
the unmoved mover
Inspired by Aristotle work of causation, he believed movement has the sense of moving from potentiality to actuality.
an argument about motion, “Whatever is in motion, must be put in motion.”
- Everything is in motion
- There can’t be an infinite regress of motion - an infinite chain of movers going back in time forever.
- There has to have been a first mover – a start to the motion we observe.
- E.g. if you see dominoes falling, there must have been a first one that was pushed – there couldn’t have just been dominoes falling forever.
- So, there must have been a first mover that was unmoved – that is God.
uncaused cause
attempts to explain cause and effect.
- everything has a cause (its contingent)
- nothing can cause itself
- however, there can’t be an infinite number of causes as there will be no first cause.
- therefore there must be an uncaused cause
- and we call that - GOD
We can see, using empirical evidence, links of cause and effect- one thing coming about due to another.
Baby—Parents—Grandparents—GreatGrandparents— Continuous chain until we reach the first humans. Humans had to start somewhere
Contingency & Necessity
Nothing comes from nothing, we have to accept some being have its own necessity.
- Individual things come into existence and later cease to exist. For example, a tree will grow leaves in the spring (begin to exist) and the leaves die in the fall (cease to exist).
- not every being can be contingent
- Therefore there must be a being whose existence is necessary – ‘WHOM WE CALL GOD’.
(E.G. a child is contingent to their parent (Copleston)
Things in our universe have a beginning and an end. If there was never a beginning then there will never be an end.
Potentially
The ability to become something else
Kalam cosmological argument
KALAM MEANIGN- To discuss/ argue
- Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence.
- The universe began to exist.
- Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.
Supporters of this theory believe that God created the universe - ex nihlo (out of nothing)
Leibniz- The Principle of Sufficient Reason
support Aquinas’ 3 way
- He simply says: ‘no fact could ever be true…unless there were a sufficient
reason why it was...’ - Everything must have a reason, cause.
- Even if the world eternal, we need an explanation for it
- This cannot be explained by contingent things. Therefore the explanation must be necessary - This being is God
- If you reject PSR, it means that you are claiming things without an explanation
Valid
No mistake in logic
The Grand Designer - Aquinas 5th Way
Like Paley, Aquinas demonstrates God’s existence is an argument from final causes.
He drew upon Aristotle view that nature is teleological & each thing has its own purpose.
In order for something to reach its purpose it need to be guided by an intelligent being - God
The teleological argument -developed by Craig
telo - end/goal
(The designed argument)
Argument for the existence of God from empirical evidence of order. (What we see around us)
Everything has a purpose/goal in order for it to be designed.
To conclude that there is a God
An inductive/posterior argument - further investigation/sense experience
Example of Aqunias 5th way
Unintelligent things can’t fulfil a purpose unless it is guided by something with knowledge.
E.G. An unintelligent Bow & Arrow without its archer would be wood and string
William Paley - 2 points of view
Design qua purpose - the universe designed to fulfil a purpose
Design qua regularity - the universe behaves according to some order.
Qua - Latin for ‘as relating to’
Strengths of the cosmological argument
- They are logical and common sense (based on what we see)
- Fits in with Christian teaching - Genesis 1. “In the beginning God created the Heaven and Earth”.
- Leibez argued that all things should have a ‘sufficient reason’ for their existence. - NOT BY CHANCE
- nothing comes from nothing - must be a first God.
- Things in nature are contingent therefore there must be something necessary.
Richard Darwin (1809-1882)
NATURAL SELECTION
Natural selection- the process through which populations of living organisms better adapt and change in order to survive its environment
Evolution explains how life is organised in the universe. Organisms adapt randomly according to the principle of ‘Survival of the fittest’
= without a reference to God
E.G. finches beaks changes overtime because ‘life is a struggle to exists’ - a way of understanding how species develop without reference to a designer God.
premises meaning
is a previous statement that an argument
Design qua regularity
argues that the fact the planets move so regularly and perfectly, is it further evidence that there must be an intelligent designer behind it.
Quote for Aquinas 5th way
‘Whatever lacks knowledge cannot move towards an end, unless it is guided by knowledge and intelligence’
Summa theologica
William Paley - (1743) = published Natural Theology-watchmaker Analogy
design qua purpose
- argued that the complexity and intrinsic nature of the world suggests there is a purpose to it - there must be a designer(God)
If he came across a watch on the ground, he would assume that the complex parts on the watch has a purpose and that it did not come into existence by chance - There must be a watchmaker. - All this complexity requires a designer. This designer is God. God is the “Divine Watch Maker”.
‘Design must have a designer, to whom we call God’
he then widens his argument to the details of the eye. The complexity of the eye alone is further evidence for a designing intelligence.
