To what extent does Gaunilo’s criticism of Anselm’s argument succeed in demonstrating that the argument fails? Gaunilo‚ a Benedictine monk and contemporary of St Anselm was the first to raise objections to Anselm’s idea that God exists by definition‚ claiming within “On behalf of the Fool” that Anselm’s argument was not logical and needed to be discredited. Gaunilo famously claimed that Anselm’s conclusion that the non-existence of God is “unintelligible” cannot show that God necessarily exists
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What is the "Cosmological Argument" for God’s existence? Be sure to make the premises and conclusion clear. Discuss what you take to be the strongest objection to this argument‚ and explain why you think it succeeds or fails. The cosmological argument for God’s existence differs from both the scriptural and ontological arguments in the way in which humans created it. Rather than looking at logical arguments or religious texts‚ the cosmological argument was derived because of humanity’s ability
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1. Who is considered the author of the Ontological argument? ANS: Saint Anslem 2. The first 3 “Ways” by St. Thomas Aquinas (to prove the existence of God) are called: a. argument from design b. argument from perfection c. cosmological argument d. none of the above. ANS: Cosmological argument 3. Explain the thrid way by Aquinas...which is called the argument from contigency. (2 or 3 sentences) ANS: Contingency can be explained as the possibility of things that come into being and go out of being
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-“The Principles of Nature and of Grace‚ Based on Reason” His conclusion was that the answer is to be found‚ not in the universe of created things‚ but in God. God exists necessarily and is the explanation why anything else exists. LEIBNIZ’s Argument There are 3 basic premises in his reasoning: 1. Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. 2. If the universe has an explanation of its existence‚ that explanation is God. 3. The universe exists. From these premises one could
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with the help of many philosophers. Hobbes‚ Locke‚ Montesquieu and Rousseau were four of the most important founders of the ideals of democracy. Through the Enlightenment Period‚ these thinkers began creating new ideas that would forever change the way governments are run through time. Our own American government reflects the ideas in some way or another of each of the philosophers we studied. Through new ideas‚ Hobbes‚ Locke‚ Rousseau and Montesquieu all changed the way government was run with the
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Document Analysis One: Rousseau Confessions In Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau‚ Rousseau seeks to explain who he is by trying to paint layer by layer‚ a portrait of himself‚ without missing any details and having his end product being interpreted by his readers. Rousseau was born into a lower class family‚ part of the commons‚ in a childhood mixed with medieval and modern values and lifestyles. Rousseau was a product of a mother and father who married out of love‚ being born into a nuclear
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Cosmological Argument The cosmological argument is the argument that the existence of the world or universe is strong evidence for the existence of a God who created it. The existence of the universe‚ the argument claims‚ stands in need of explanation‚ and the only adequate explanation of its existence is that it was created by God. Like most arguments for the existence of God‚ the cosmological argument exists in several forms; two are discussed here: the temporal‚ kalam cosmological argument (i.e. the
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weaknesses of Aquinas’ Cosmological argument The Cosmological argument attempts to explain that something has caused the universe to exist and this First cause is what we call God. The argument begins with observations that try to support the following statements: • Everything in the universe has a cause • The universe itself must have a cause • To avoid infinite regress of causes there must be an uncaused cause • This uncaused cause is God The argument uses inductive reasoning‚ which means
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The Ontological Argument: An explanation and critical assessment Phil 361 Lec 01 Professor: Reid Buchanan Ryley Braun‚ 10013764 April 16‚ 2010 The ontological argument is an attempt to refute skepticism of God and prove His existence through reason alone. The philosopher‚ Saint Anselm‚ presented his work on the ontological argument‚ or argument from reason‚ in his text the Proslogium. The argument‚ on the surface‚ is very logically convincing and attempts to allure even the skeptic of
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Ontological Argument One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. Ontological arguments are arguments to prove the existence of God based on pure reason alone. They attempt to show that we can deduce God’s existence from‚ so to speak‚ the very definition of God. St. Anselm of Canterbury proposed the first and most well known ontological argument in 1078 in his Proslogion‚ but it was actually Immanuel Kant‚ an 18th century German philosopher
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