There is only one God who is a person that created and sustains the world.
What is Deism?
there exists a God who created the world but does not sustain or interfere in the course of the world.
T or F Deism believers think there were prophets, miracles or authoritative religious texts?
F
What is Pantheism?
– God is identical to the world or universe; there is nothing that exists outside of or distinct from God.
What is Polytheism ?
– there exist multiple Gods
What does Agnostic mean?
– the ultimate origins and causes of the universe and human race must be unknown.
What subfield of Philosophy would ask questions pertaining to what things are really like?
Metaphysical
What subfield of Philosophy would ask questions pertaining to beliefs?
Epistemology
What was Aristotles’ stance on God?
Aristotle argues for the existence of God because he thinks God is necessary to understand how motion works in physics.
What was Rene Descartes stance on God?
Rene Descartes argues for the existence of God because he thinks God’s existence is necessary for certain knowledge of almost anything else, and therefore it’s necessary for establishing a foundation for science.
What was Freidrich Nietzsche stance on God?
Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th century philosopher and atheist, held that traditional western systems of morality required the existence of God and made no sense without it.
Three common types of arguments for the existence of God
Ontological
Cosmological
Teleological
Arguments against the existence of God
evil
What is an Ontological Argument?
proving God exists doesn’t require any verifiable information, only concepts/ideas
What did Anslem of Canterbury believe about ontological arguments?
When people deny the existence of God, if that person is thinking of a being that exists in mind and reality, that person can’t deny the existence without involving themselves in a contradiction
What did Gaunilo believe about ontological arguments?
If I understand the idea, am I forced to accept that it really exists?
What does Kent believe about ontological argument?
existence cannot be a property or feature of the concept of God
What is a cosmological argument?
claims that things depend on something else for their existence
What is Al-Ghazali's belief on cosmological arguments?
every being that begins has a for its beginning
What is Thomas Aquinas belief on cosmological arguments?
every effect must have a cause and concludes that the first cause of all other causes is God.
What is Gottfried Leibniz's rules for cosmological arguments?
Sufficient reason and contingent fact
What is sufficient reason?
For any fact about the world, there must be a reason why it is that way instead of some other way.
What is contingent fact?
facts that make up the universe can only be explained by existence of God
What is the fallacy of composition?
1) If parts of a thing have a certain property, it doesn't follow that the whole thing has that property
2) In a choice of identical items, there isn't sufficient reason to believe why a person would choose one over the other.
What is a teleological argument?
concerns the apparent design of the universe
What is William Paley's argument for teleological argument?
The natural world must have a maker
What is David Hume's belief on teleological argument?
we don't know what the designer is like or how many designers there are.
What is Charles Darwin's belief on the teleological argument?
universe is from years of chance and natural selection
What is logical problem with evil?
God and evil can't co-exist
What is the evidential problem with evil?
observes the actual evil there is
What does John Hick conclude about evidential problem with evil?
Existence of evil does not provide evidence for God
