The Design Argument for the Existence of God While theology may take God's existence as absolutely necessary on the basis of authority, faith, or discovery, many philosophers have thought it possible to demonstrate by reason that there must be a God. The teleological argument, also known as the argument from design quite simply states that a designer must exist since the universe and living things display elements of design in their order, consistency, unity and pattern. The argument says that things in the world move towards goals, just as the arrow does not move toward its goal except by the archer's directing it. Consequently there must be an intelligent designer who directs all things to their …show more content…
Many components of nature appear to be very finely tuned for this, and the odds against this happening by chance are astronomical. Criticisms against these are the principles of self-organisation and evolution which provide complete explanations for apparent design and the odds against all possible universes are equally astronomical, yet one of them must be the actual universe. b, The idea that God exists and that he is the architect to serve the purpose that the universe is designed proves subjective. Different observations in the natural world can produce different theories to account for their existence. Also, the proof is built on analogy, thus if we find there are things in the universe that are disordered, then by analogy, the would imply there is no designer. Another thing wrong with the argument is that it is not obvious that the universe or living things are intelligently designed. Science, such as physics and biology, can prove that not everything that has a design is intelligently designed: "There cannot be design without a designer; contrivance without a contriver ... The marks of design are too strong to be got over. Design must have had a designer. That designer must have been a person. That person is GOD" (Paley). This seems logical because objects, such as a watch or a computer, have a design and therefore somebody had to design it.
The Cosmological Argument attempts to prove that God exists by showing that there cannot be an infinite number of regressions of causes to things that exist. It states that there must be a final uncaused-cause of all things. This uncaused-cause is asserted to be God. Arguments like this are thought up to recognize why we and the universe exist.
The real is the rational, and the rational is the real. In philosophical discussion, no statement is, perhaps, more important or more controversial. Yet, this is the very position that I advocate within this paper. The equation of the rational with the real is at the heart of the argument I here consider, that being the ontological argument for the existence of God.
The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God The ontological argument is an a priori argument. The arguments attempt to prove God's existence from the meaning of the word God. The ontological argument was introduced by Anselm of Canterbury in his book Proslogion. Anselm's classical argument was based on two principals and the two most involved in this is St Anselm of Canterbury as previously mentioned and Rene Descartes.
which is equal or greater than it. If this were the case then even the
In “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky made a famous claim that establishes the link between the existence of God and morality. Apart from the controversy related to the scope of the quotation, the discussion on the proper translation and interpretation of the words of Ivan Karamazov. For instance, in his article “Dostoevsky did not say it” D.Cortesi claims that Dostoevsky did not make such claim (Cortesi 1). However, the research by Russian-speaking authors shows that the original text of “The Brothers Karamazov” contains the statement under study (Volkov 1). Coming to the scope of the claim, one should concentrate on the reasons for making such claim, as well as the relation between the moral beliefs of secular humanists and
In the fifth Meditation, Descartes presents his second argument for the existence of God. Descartes holds that existence is perfection and so, it can be a predicate for God. I will first explain what is the ontological argument for the existence of God. Next, I will discuss why Descartes decides to bring God into His method of philosophy. I will then try to argue that existence is a perfection and that as a predicate for God, existence reveal certain true about God.
In part IX of Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Deamea, the orthodox Christian, confronts Philo’s skepticism towards the arguments for God’s existence and nature that have thus far be discussed. Deamea presents a version of the ontological argument that he believes should provide undeniable proof of the truths found in religious dogma. However, Philo is not convinced with this argument because of the nature of the argument. Philo describes Deamea’s ontological argument as an a priori argument.
This paper will discuss the logical vindications for the existence of God. I will examine the strengths and weaknesses, through criticising existing arguments from various philosophers and thereby determine that the ontological argument which states God exists in both the human mind and in reality, is a strong statement. The analytic statement, which St Anselm devised, indicates that even atheist who does not believe in God also approves of his theory of God. I will evaluate the deductive, ontological arguments on the existence of God and thus state how the ontological argument, which I have accepted, rationally justifies God’s existence.
Men always wonder about their own existence. They ask questions that hinted an existence of a God. Like the common questions that was probably asked by all men; who created me? , what am I? , who am I? These questions lead to the topics on how Plato and Aristotle came up with their different theories that supports the idea of the existence of a God. The problem here is that we cannot know the existence of a God if there really is a God by just thinking by ourselves because we may have the mind to think but we may also not have the capacity to think like Plato and Aristotle from which they are the main philosophers that the Medieval philosophers like Saint Bonaventure based their work not just by simply agreeing on the works of Aristotle or Plato but by commenting on their works and continuing or extending what their works are. The theory of forms by Plato indicates that there is a Primary Being that can be perceive through the use of the mind wherein reason is the main instrument being used in order to see what you cannot perceive using your external senses. The external sense cognition by Aristotle from which uses the five senses of a human person which are the sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste. The world that we perceive by the use of our external senses make us believe that there is a God that created all that we see, smell, touch, hear, and taste. I propose to assimilate Saint Bonaventura in my paper because of my elaboration about
In the “Suma Theologica,” by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas combines the doctrines of Christianity with Aristotelian philosophy, through the assertion that as a result of observation, utilization of the senses, and an empirical mindset, one can substantiate the existence of God. Aquinas holds the conception that in the quest for God’s existence, philosophy and theology are interwoven together and both play complementary roles. He infuses numerous theological doctrines, mainly from Saint Augustine, alongside Aristotelian ideals such as, the first mover, to corroborate his argument for the existence of God. Instead of basing his argument on human reason and rationality like his predecessor, Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Aquinas holds that it is
Is There a God?.. A big question that billions of people didn’t yet proved that’s it’s true or not, but we can search and find out if there is a real God or not .. Even if we don’t have much evidence that explain this answer, but we can find out the truth with a little bit of searching and thinking without judging about it. No one can tell you that you have to believe that God is here or not, even if you are not sure about it, you have to seek by yourself. The Bible said that there is people who saw the God, so there is some evidence that appear here, Jesus also said in the Bible "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you.”, so here Jesus want us to find out and to seek the truth which is
"No one can think the opposite of that which is self evident…But the opposite of the proposition "God Exists" can be thought…therefore the proposition that God existence is self evident."( Thomas Aquinas)
The Bible begins with the book of Genesis stating, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Bible doesn’t begin with an argument for the reality of God, but states the truth of His existence. The Jews accepted the truth of an eternal God, so the authors rarely spent time with an argument for His existence. However, today in our society, it is usually required to begin explaining the gospel with an argument for God’s existence. 1 Peter 3:15 instructs believers to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” For the believer, it is a good practice to have an understanding of the arguments for God’s existence. It is important to realize that
The answer for me is simple. At the start of every philosophical thought, the thinker must decide whether or not God exists and use this as a basis for the rest of his ideas. The great questions, is there a God? Why is this question so important? Well, it’s the determining factor in what human beings naturally are. Disregarding the argument for his existence or nonexistence, the basis of a philosopher determines how they will think of ideas and concepts. An atheist may see many men doing charitable work and few men doing evil work, and he can come to the conclusion that man is naturally good but corruptible. A theist may look at the same men and note they are part of church, and the evil men are not, and come to the conclusion that men are
Throughout history, the worship of gods has been a part of daily life even amidst those cultures that have been considered "savage". The reactions, movement, existence, comparisons, purposes, and common beliefs of the world show that there must be a god. The existence of a god is an irrefutable fact.