He is infinitely good (pg. 125). The first argument offered concludes there must be a first mover‚ “and this everyone understands to be God” (pg. 126). His first argument does not prove the unmoved mover is good or bad. Aquinas‚ like most‚ understand God to be the original mover and infinitely good. Can we take Aquinas’ first argument as any proof of God’s existence? I believe not. Aquinas must argue such a creator is all good. Aquinas’ fourth argument puts all beings on the good/bad scale. There
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to refute the arguments of God’s existence and explain how “atheism is a much more comfortable belief than theism.” (McCloskey 1968) He first attempts to discredit the Cosmological and Teleological arguments for God’s existence‚ then he turns to the existence of evil as “proof” that God does not exist‚ and finally closes his article back where he began- claiming that atheism is a more comforting belief than theism. Here I intend to explain how McCloskey is incorrect in his arguments and beliefs.
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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 belief
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there is proof for God ’s existence." 2. The VIDETUR: "It seems that the existence of God can be proven in five ways by the Cosmological Argument." Saint Thomas Aquinas‚ put forth his own theory on the existence of God. In his text "Whether God Exists"‚ he stated that through his five arguments he could prove God ’s existence. His five arguments are from motion‚ from first efficient cause‚ from possibility and necessity‚ from gradation‚ and from design. Aquinas begins his text with two objections
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Do you agree that the first cause argument proves that God exists? The first cause argument takes the existence of the universe to entail the existence of a being that created it. It does so based on the fact that the universe had a beginning. There must‚ the first cause argument says‚ be something that caused that beginning‚ a first cause of the universe. I do believe that the first cause argument proves God’s existence. This is because the universe consists of a series of events stretched across
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The weaknesses of the Ontological Argument give support to Atheism. Discuss this claim (12 marks) Anselm’s ontological argument described in part (a)‚ was refuted in his own lifetime‚ by Gaunilo‚ who demonstrated in a reduction ad absurdum of his own‚ that if the logic of the argument were applied to things other than God‚ it led to invalid conclusions. Gaunilo didn’t identify any specific fault with the argument‚ but argued that something must be wrong with it‚ because if there wasn’t anything
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(A) Explain how Descartes developed Anselm’s argument that God’s existence is necessary. Anselm used the Ontological Argument to prove that God’s existence is necessary. The origins of this argument are found in Anselm’s writings‚ he began with a quotation from a Psalm “The fool says in his heart‚ ‘there is no God’…” and then reflected on the truthfulness of this. Anselm defined God as ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’ assuming you accept this a priori definition Anselm went on
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Examine the main strengths of the cosmological argument for the existence of God (21 marks) The main question the cosmological argument ponders thought on is ‘Why is there a universe at all?’ The cosmological argument asks the scientific question behind the universe as the design argument asks an emotional one. One of the main strengths of the cosmological argument was brought forward again recently by William Lane Craig. The argument tries to say that the world couldn’t have just occurred‚ there
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someone. Adversely‚ teleological morality could claim that by not pushing the button‚ the witness is choosing to kill five people instead of one by not interjecting. From a teleological perspective‚ the witness should press the button as killing one person instead of five creates more happiness for more people. Morally‚ it would be acceptable to press the button as the goodness of the act outweighs the harmful effects. Morality can be classified as deontological or teleological. Nonetheless‚ morality
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Aquinas‚ a well-known Italian Dominican priest‚ philosopher and theologian‚ believed that God exists. “[He] wanted us to reason our way to God”‚ to proving or believing His existence (Class Notes). In fact‚ he had five arguments for the existence of God. The first is known as the “Argument from Motion”: “Our senses prove that some things are in motion. Things move when potential motion becomes actual motion. Only an actual motion can convert a potential motion into an actual motion. Nothing can be at
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