PVAMU Explanation of The Cosmological Argument of Gods Existence Discussion

Explain the Cosmological Argument for God’s existence.

in complete sentences answer this in paragraph format. do not use citations. use the resources provided.

Is Religion Reasonable?
• Are religious beliefs (about the universe’s
relation to the supernatural) reasonable?
• Faith seeking understanding: ontological,
cosmological, teleological arguments for the
existence of God (monotheism); pantheism
(God=universe); panentheism (all is in God)
• Are religious experiences (about one’s
personal relation to divinity) reasonable?
The Ontological Argument
•St. Anselm (1033-1109)
“God” means the greatest conceivable being
A being that exists in one’s mind and in
reality (outside of one’s mind) is greater
than one that exists only in one’s mind
Therefore, God must exist in reality
Kant’s Objections to the
Ontological Argument
If there is a greatest conceivable being, then he
exists. But we cannot conclude from the sheer
possibility of such a being that he exists
A concept of God + a concept of his existing
may be greater than a concept of God alone;
but these are still only concepts, not proofs of
God’s existence outside our concepts
The Cosmological Argument:
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)
The universe, like all things in it, is contingent
(i.e., depends on something else as the cause of
its existence); otherwise, it is unintelligible
If there is no ultimate cause of the universe
(that is, if the causal sequence is infinite), then
nothing would ever have happened or be
intelligible here and now. But things do exist
here and now, so God exists here and now
Hume’s Criticisms of the
Cosmological Argument
Perhaps the universe has always
existed: if this can be said of God,
why can’t it be said of the universe?
Fallacy of composition: parts → whole
Why should we think that everything has a
cause or reason for its existence?
Besides, the argument does not prove that
God is anything other than a cause of things
who might not care at all about his creation
The Teleological Argument:
Argument from Design/Purpose
Wm. Paley
(1743-1805)
The order and intricacy of things in the
universe make sense only if an ordering and
purposive mind is their cause
Analogy:
watch
. . universe
watchmaker . . universe-maker
Criticisms of the Teleological
Argument: David Hume
Even the claim that the universe exhibits order
is doubtful; it is a human imposition
We cannot use analogy in discussing the
universe: we do not experience universes or
know that intelligent beings produce them
Even if we argue analogously, we cannot
conclude that its creator is one, wise, or good
Criticisms of the Teleological
Argument:
Charles Darwin
(1809-82)
Things in nature exhibit order, but that is not
the result of design or purpose
Things appear orderly because random
variations produce adaptive individuals
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Dialogue Education Update 3
THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A
CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM
SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS
DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET).
Contents
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Pages 3 – Video Interview with Daniel Dennett
Pages 4 to 5 What is Philosophy of Religion?
Pages 6 to 10 The Task of the Philosopher of Religion
Page 11 – Other questions in Philosophy of Religion
Pages 12 to 15 Central questions
Page 16 – Monotheistic Definitions
Page 17 – Polytheistic Definitions
Page 18 – Pantheism and Panantheism
Pages 20 to 21 – Natural Theology
Page 23 – Community of inquiry stimulus material
Page 24 – Bibliography
YOUTUBE Video Religion Vs Atheism Daniel Dennett on CCTV “Highlights”
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image to the
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view this
presentation.
Enlarge to full
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Philosophy of Religion
 Philosophy of religion
is a
branch of philosophy that is
concerned with the
philosophical study of religion.
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Religion is
sometimes distinguished
from “religious
philosophy“.
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of religion
has classically been
regarded as a part of
metaphysics.
Philosophy of Religion
However, the philosophy
of religion has
concerned itself with
more than just
metaphysical questions.
Philosophy of Religion
Objects of religious belief
raise special philosophical
problems and invite us to
clarify central metaphysical
concepts.
Philosophy of Religion
A philosopher of religion
is interested in asking
what may be knowable
with regards to religions’
claims.
Philosophy of Religion
A philosopher of religion
asks whether there are
sound reasons to think
that God does or does
not exist.
Philosophy of Religion
 There are
other questions
studied in the philosophy of
religion. E.g What, if anything,
would give us good reason to
believe that a miracle has
occurred?
Philosophy of Religion
The question “What is
God?” is sometimes
also phrased as “What is
the meaning of the
word God?”
Philosophy of Religion
What is God?“
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“Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes
gods by the dozen.”
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-Michel De Montaigne
Philosophy of Religion
Some people believe in
supernatural beings, some
believe there is just one God,
while others believe in many
different deities while
maintaining that all are
manifestations of one God.
Philosophy of Religion
Within these two broad
categories (monotheism
and polytheism) there is a
wide variety of possible
beliefs.
Philosophy of Religion
Monotheistic definitions
Augustine
 In Western thought, God is traditionally
described as a being that possesses at
least three necessary properties:
omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence
(all-powerful), and omnibenevolence
(supremely good).
Philosophy of Religion
 Even once the word
“God” is
defined in a monotheistic
sense, there are still many
difficult questions to be asked
about what this means.
Philosophy of Religion
Polytheistic definitions
The distinguishing characteristic of
polytheism is its belief in more
than one god(dess).
Philosophy of Religion
Pantheistic definitions
Pantheists assert that God is
itself the natural universe.
Panentheism
Panentheism holds that the
physical universe is part of
God, but that God is more
than this.
Philosophy of Religion
The second question, “Do we have any good reason to think that
God does (or does not) exist?”, is equally important in the
philosophy of religion. There are eight main positions with
regard to the existence of God that one might take:
Theism
Pantheism
Panentheism
Deism
Agnosticism
Atheism
Retreism
Polytheism
Philosophy of Religion
Natural theology
 The attempt to provide proofs
or arguments for the existence
of God is one aspect of what is
known as natural theology or
the natural theistic project.
Philosophy of Religion
The philosopher
Alvin
Plantinga has shifted his
focus to justifying belief in
God through reformed
epistemology.
Philosophy of Religion
 According
to DZ Phillips, the
question of whether or not
God exists cannot be
“objectively” answered by
philosophy.
Community of Inquiry Discussion
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CLICK ON THIS LINK
FOR THE STIMULUS
MATERIAL FOR A
DISCUSSION ON BIG
BANG COSMOLOGY
AND THE EXISTENCE
OF GOD. (You might
like to print this
material out and
distribute it to the
class.)
Bibliography
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Saint Augustine; The Confessions of Saint Augustine (John K. Ryan translator); Image (1960), ISBN 0-385-02955-1
Descartes, René; Meditations on First Philosophy; Bobbs-Merril (1960), ISBN 0-672-60191-5
Barzilai, Gad; Law and Religion; The International Library of Essays in Law and Society; Ashgate (2007),ISBN 978-0-7546-24943
Durant, Will (& Ariel (uncredited)); The Age of Faith; Simon & Schuster (1980), ISBN 0-671-01200-2.
Marija Gimbutas 1989. The Language of the Goddess. Thames and Hudson New York
Gonick, Larry; The Cartoon History of the Universe; Doubleday, vol. 1 (1978) ISBN 0-385-26520-4 vol. II (1994) ISBN#0-38542093-5, W. W. Norton, vol. III (2002) ISBN 0-393-05184-6.
Haisch, Bernard The God Theory: Universes, Zero-point Fields, and What’s Behind It All — discussion of science vs. religion
(Preface), Red Wheel/Weiser, 2006, ISBN 1-57863-374-5
Lao Tzu; Tao Te Ching (Victor H. Mair translator); Bantam (1998).
Marx, Karl; “Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right”, Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher,
(1844).
Saler, Benson; “Conceptualizing Religion: Immanent Anthropologists, Transcendent Natives, and Unbounded Categories”
(1990), ISBN 1-57181-219-9
The Holy Bible, King James Version; New American Library (1974).
The Koran; Penguin (2000), ISBN 0-14-044558-7
Evans, C. Stephen (1985). Philosophy of Religion: Thinking about Faith. InterVarsity Press. pp. 16. ISBN 0877843430.
Antony Flew, John Polkinghorne, Keith Ward and Richard Swinburne
The London Philosophy Study Guide offers many suggestions on what to read, depending on the student’s familiarity with the
subject: Philosophy of Religion
William L. Rowe, William J. Wainwright, Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, Third Ed. (Florida: Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1998)
Wikipedia-Philosophy of Religion- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_religion