I do not find any of the traditional proofs for God’s existence persuasive‚ and I will go over each argument one at a time to explain why I do not find them persuasive‚ starting with Anselm’s ontological argument‚ then Aquinas’ cosmological argument‚ and finally Paley’s teleological argument. First‚ Anselm’s ontological argument is not persuasive because the argument can be used to prove things that do not exist. The faulty logic is shown in Gaunilo’s Lost Island Objection because instead of putting
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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 an all-powerful God. The Existence of God In my opinion‚ I believe that McCloskey’s arguments against the existence of God is somewhat biased. By biased I’m inferring that his argument is a one-sided view that attempts to provide proof
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Clarke begins his argument by asserting the obvious--that based on experience‚ all of the beings that surround us today do exist. These beings‚ encountered based on one’s experience‚ are dependent on a prior cause. In other words‚ everything that exists must have been caused by something else that also exists or has existed; and for something finite to exist today‚ such as any being in this world‚ it would mean that there must have been something that has existed since infinity. According to Clarke‚ there
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Explain Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument Thomas Aquinas developed five ways to prove Gods existence. The first three are key to the Cosmological argument. These are from motion‚ causation‚ and contingency. He presented his work on these in the Summa Theologica‚ where he accepts that it may be impossible to prove the God of Classical theism caused the universe to exist‚ but believes that what God does proves Gods existence. The first way is from motion‚ Aquinas emphasises that motion means changes
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that it is implausible that anything at all is able to exist because of nothing‚ and that nothing should exist because of something. Building upon earlier argument‚ Anselm concludes that “whatever is […] does not exist except through something.” Since‚ according to him‚ this premise is true and since‚ as pointed out earlier in his argument‚ everything that is exists either through itself or through something‚ there must be one‚ or many‚ beings though which all things that are exist. Our existence
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earth has begged an answer since the beginning of the philosophical era. Philosophers often turn to the cosmological argument to justify the existence of God‚ and turn to the metaphysical basis to explain religious beliefs. This essay will analyze the “cosmological argument” as presented by Richard Taylor‚ in order to critically evaluate its meaning and understand its claims. To begin‚ the argument stems upon a metaphysical interpretation of creation. Despite the fact that religion may be a matter
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Thomas Aquinas’s cosmological argument is a posteriori argument that Aquinas uses to prove the existence of God. Aquinas argues that‚ “Nothing can move itself‚ so whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another‚ and that by another again. But this causal loop cannot go on to infinity‚ so if every object in motion had a mover‚ there must be a first mover which is the unmoved mover‚ called God.” (Aquinas‚ Question 2‚ Article 3). I do agree with Aquinas’s cosmological argument in proving the existence
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of the opposing arguments originating from the atheistic worldview contribute to the constructing of theistic truths. While using the multiple competing hypotheses method of finding the most probable cause to the universe and the existence of all mankind‚ a personal creator fits better than the probability of creation just happening by chance. This universe is very complex and the existence of the personal creator can be explained in two arguments out of the many existing arguments
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From the arguments discussed in class‚ I choose to evaluate Thomas Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument. Aquinas offers a believable case for the existence of God through five arguments. The arguments are “a posteriori arguments” with five strategies (Aquinas 52). The first argues that there is an unmoved mover that originated all motion but the mover‚ itself‚ does not move. The second argument concludes: “there must be a first cause to explain the existence of cause” (Aquinas 52). The third argument says
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events that cannot be explained. I‚ like many others look for something transcendent on which to build our lives upon. There are numerous arguments presented to prove the existence of God‚ however the most convincing of those ways begins from the fact of the existence of the world. These types of arguments are known as “cosmological” arguments. The cosmological argument is that of the existence of the universe is strong indication for the existence of a God who created it. In this essay‚ I will
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