Response Paper “On Being an Atheist” by H.J. McCloskey The renowned atheist H.J. McCloskey‚ from the 1960’s and 1970’s contended that God was nonexistent. McCloskey wrote an article in 1968 titled “On Being an Atheist‚” stating reasons why he believes‚ “atheism is a much more comfortable belief than theism” (McCloskey‚ 1968). In the article McCloskey dismisses God’s existence‚ and “because evil exists that we believe God does not exist” (McCloskey‚ 1968). McCloskey argues that without defentive
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H.J. McCloskey‚ in his article‚ “On Being an Atheist‚” presents a series of arguments to defend and justify his atheist beliefs. He debates arguments for God’s existence including the cosmological argument and the teleological argument; stating that these arguments are false and argues that without “proof‚” the idea of God should be rejected entirely. He is critical of the arguments for God’s existence and offers the problem of evil to be a major concern and reason why one should not believe in the
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-1This is a response to H.J. McCloskey’s Article‚ "On Being an Atheist". While I believe that Mr . McCloskey put a lot of thought into this article I think he made some assumptions about all theists that are not necessarily correct. Throughout his argument it seems that he focuses primarily on the existence of evil to support his non belief in God. He started off immediately in this argument by stating that because of the evil that exists in this world that if we are to say there was a creator
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Existence: A Response to H.J. McCloskey’s “On Being an Atheist” 1 2 3 I. Introduction In this paper‚ I will be making a response to a well-known writer and atheist‚ H. J. McCloskey
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Philosopher and atheist‚ H.J. McCloskey published an article titled “On Being an Atheist” in 1968. In this article he offers arguments and what he refers to as “proofs” that a theists’ beliefs in an omnipotent‚ omniscient God should be disregarded. McCloskey bases his article on the Cosmological argument‚ the Teleological argument‚ on the problem of evil and ends his writing discussing why he claims that being an atheist offers more comfort than a theist has from a belief in God. This response will argue
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In his article “On Being an Atheist‚” H. J. McCloskey makes an entertaining‚ but in the end inadequate‚ explanation as to why the arguments for God’s existence fail (limiting himself to the only two he cared to deal with)‚ and why Atheism provides more comfort to the hurting person than Theism. Unfortunately his article is riddled with straw men and fails to address the question of God’s existence at the level that the Theist presents it. Twice in the article he makes reference to the theist’s
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Essay on Responding to H. J. McCloskey’s On Being an Atheist by Reed Harvey Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas Instructor: C. Wayne Mayhall Due – August 17‚ 2012 Liberty University This paper seeks to clarify whether the claims and proofs presented by McCloskey’s article “On Being an Atheist” provide sufficient ammunition to dissuade people from maintaining their belief in God. It was McCloskey’s intent to systematically discredit God and show that life without God is a better
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In his article‚ On Being an Atheist‚ H.J. McCloskey tried to show that atheism is a more reasonable and comfortable belief than that of Christianity. McCloskey argued against the three theistic proofs‚ which are the cosmological argument‚ the teleological argument and the argument from design. He pointed out the existence of evil in the world that God made. He also pointed out that it is irrational to live by faith. According to McCloskey‚ proofs do not necessarily play a vital role in the
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Response to McCloskey’s “On Being and Atheist” I respect individual worldviews‚ as I desire people to respect mine. At the same time‚ I do have the freedom of agreeing or disagreeing with ones that are deviate in nature from my own. One prime example is the worldview of H. J. McCloskey. Although I respect his worldview‚ and understand his reasoning behind it‚ I also disagree with it as well. McCloskey’s views are one of an Atheist. I am a Christian‚ and consider myself a theist who believes in
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KayCee Schielder Response Paper Liberty University Phil The 1970’s philosopher McCloskey brings into question the three major arguments that are commonly presented against the question of God’s existence. McCloskey does so in an article entitled “On Being an Atheist.” In this article McCloskey commonly refers to these arguments as “proofs” rather than simply arguments. Furthermore‚ he argues that these “proofs” can’t be positively established and therefore one should throw said “proofs”
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