Argument For the Existence of God : A Critical Evaluation There have been many theories for and against the existence of God. For example: the Faith- based Arguments‚ Pascal’s Wager‚ James’s Will to Believe‚ the Contingency Argument and several more. The argument being analysed here however is Ontological argument given by St. Anselm and its counter-argument. In St. Anselm’s argument‚ God has been thought by the definition: ‘the entity (or being) than which none greater can be conceived’
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outline the Ontological Argument‚ proposed by Anselm of Canterbury‚ to prove the existence of God (in particular the Christian God). It also discusses Gaunilo’s objection to the ontological argument with the use of the “Lost Island” analogy. And finally offers an opinion as to whether or not Gaunilo’s objection successfully refutes Anselm’s argument. Anselm’s ontological argument‚ sourced from the “Proslogium” (with himself as the author)‚ is a highly controversial argument that aims to prove the
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The design argument attempts to explain the existence of god through things we can see in the world around us. It is otherwise known as the “teleological argument”. “Telos” is the Greek word for purpose the teleological argument uses the idea of purpose‚ order and complexity which we can observe in the universe in order to explain and attempt to prove the existence of god. The design argument is an a prosteriori argument as it uses experience of the world which can be observed in order to reach
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During the 11th Century Saint Anslem came up with an apriori argument which deals with the existence of God. This argument was refuted by Aquinas in the 13th Century‚ while in the 17th century it was revised by Descartes only to then be refuted once more by Immanuel Kant. It was Kant himself who finally gave a name to this argument to which today we know it as the Ontological Argument. With works such as ‘Fides Quaerense Intellectum’ and ‘Proslogian’ Anslem tried to prove and show that certain Christian
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This paper will seek to summarize and analyze Richard Taylor’s "cosmological argument." In the cosmological argument as presented by Richard Taylor he states that there is an explanation behind everything regardless of whether it is teleological or not‚ and that the universe requires an explanation. This is known principle of sufficient reason. In his argument he states: “-there is some explanation for the existence of anything whatever‚ some reason why it should exist rather than not. The sheer
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Many philosophers make arguments to try and prove God existence‚ while many of them think they have succeeded. Just a few of the philosophers that are still taught today‚ consist of: St. Anselm‚ Gaunilo and Descartes. These three philosophers all have their own arguments for Gods existence‚ and they all differ in many ways. Philosophers even like to make arguments that refute other philosophers’ arguments. St. Anselm was born in 1033 and died in 1109. St. Anselm was a well-known philosopher in his
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The Cosmological Argument‚ also known as the First Clause Argument‚ is an a posteriori argument that attempts to prove the existence of God through the idea of there being an uncaused first cause (God) to the creation of the universe. Christina philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas is known for arguing in this manner in which he wrote‚ “The Five Ways”. From then on‚ the Cosmological Argument has become one of the most controversial and convincing arguments as to the existence of God. In what follows
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An argument from design is an argument that is close to the Teleological approach‚ which are arguments for the existence of God because of a general pattern and order in the universe‚ as opposed to arguments from providence‚ which are arguments from the provision of needs; of conscious beings. The teleological argument attempts to prove the existence of God by explaining that the world‚ in its seemingly perfect and ordered state could not have come about without the existence of a designer. The
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The Teleological Argument is the argument from a design stand point. The argument implies that a higher source of intelligence had to come up with the design in which the universe came into existence. McCloskey come up with numerous reason against this argument that suggest the Teleological Argument is not adequate in proving God exist. A design must have a designer and us as humans couldn’t create the earth ourselves even if we put all our thinking caps together‚ the creator of this world had to
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The cosmological argument is attempting to show through reason that a cosmos needs an explanation. The cosmological argument is an a posteriori argument because it is based upon empirical data which we only discovered through being on this planet. The claim is that the universe cannot account for its own existence and so this argument seeks causes that have their solutions in the existence of a God. It suggests that God is in esse and humans are in fieri. The first part of this principle is the
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