whether or not God exists. This is the very question that has grasped the imagination of humanity since the birth of reason, and the same question that has plagued scientists and philosophers without coming close to an accepted conclusion. God is a word that means different things to different people. The definition for God, according to most monotheistic religions is the creator and ruler
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isn't a 'God' at all. There is no authenticated evidence to suggest that 'God' does exist. Whereas, there is more than enough evidence to support Darwin's theory. For example: human embryos, very early on in development, are almost identical to that of a fish. Embryos are clear signs of evolution as there are many similarities between human embryos and fish embryos, these are also almost identical to embryos of birds and reptiles, not just fish. The human eye is imperfect, if there was a 'God', surely
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October 27th 2014 Does God exist? Descartes’ fifth Meditation argument for God's existence relies on an untenable notion that existence is a perfection and that it can be predicated of God. I shall first explain what Descartes’ argument for God's existence is, and then present his argument in propositional form. I will then attempt to support the argument that existence is neither a perfection nor a predicate of God. In our thoughts we apprehend ideas of things. These ideas may reside entirely
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The existence of God has been the subject of debate by philosophers, scientists, and for centuries. Three of these philosophers Anselm, Guanilo and Thomas of Aquinas explore some ideas on the topic of the existence of God. Anselm refers to Psalm 8 that says we need to seek God with our whole heart but he points out the fact we cannot see God so how can we seek God with our whole heart? Subsequently, Guanilo disagrees with Anselm’s comparison of God existence that leads them to go back and fourth
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Aquinas debate the existence of God. Anselm one of the philosophers gives an example of God's presence with a comparison of God's existence to the painter's idea of the painting because the concept of the painting has always existed. In disagreement, someone could not compare the existence of God to a painter's artwork because they are not the same. Thomas Aquinas the other philosopher would argue in another way that everything that has breath for this reason God does exist. These three philosophers
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lead to, or support, belief in God. Firstly, a child’s parents will have told them that God is true (which is part of their marriage vows) and a child believes what their parents tell them. Secondly, a child that goes to Church will see so many people worshipping and praising God that the child is likely to think that God is real. Thirdly, if the child goes to a Catholic school they would have RE lessons in which the teachers will tell the child that God exists and a child believes what their
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through understanding, then that being should be able to exist in reality. His argument is not sound due to the possibility of other things such as perfect islands [1] could also exist if one were to think about the subject being perfect in every way. Some philosophers such as Gaunilo do not refute that god does not exist but that Anslems argument is unsound and that a better argument can be created. Anselm's definition of God starts by saying that God is the greatest being we can possibly think of and
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Intro: The existence of God is one of the most basic yet complex questions raised in modern philosophy. Theists believe that a God does exist. Atheists believe in the exact opposite, that there is no god. Leaving agnostics to believe that there is no reason or proof that states that people should believe in one more than the other. Many arguments exist both confirming and refuting the existence of a god, most having counter-arguments that the premises with the conclusion of the argument. Numberless
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a predicate. You cannot talk about something and then state that it exists because we could do this with anything He gave the example of unicorns. Humans have an idea of what a unicorn is but this does not mean to say it exists just because we can picture what it could be like. Therefore in this example, we see through definition alone, God cannot be proved to be real because we could demand anything into existence but this does not mean it will happen. Similarly, Hume argued that we cannot define
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Universe Introduction The debate on the existence of God has been on the minds and across the tables of many intellects, philosophers, religious leaders, even scientists. Different theories come up proving the existence or the nonexistence of a supreme being who controls all systems and is the giver and sustainer of life. Theories like these suggest that God exists and different religions have established and proved the existence of God. On the other hand, scientists and evolutionists have also
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Delaney July 22, 2009 Existence of God Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God is that God is the greatest possible being. Anselm’s ontological argument gave meaning to God’s existence. Ontological argument is defined as the existence of God attempts the method of a priori proof, which uses intuition and reason alone. “Anselm defines God by saying God is that “which nothing greater can be conceived.” One way to interpret this phrase is to define “God” as maximal perfection, i.e. the
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from contingency, the argument from degrees of excellence, and the final, argument from harmony. Pascal uses the logic of probability. He states that what is the worst that can happen if you believe God exists and he does exist or whats the worst that can happen if you believe he exist and he doesn't exist and vice versa. In this essay I will be writing about each philosophers argument and comparing their arguments. Thomas Aquinas states in his first argument, the argument from change, that everything
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Does God Exist? An ongoing question that will never have a certain answer is whether god exits? When you think about this question, a lot of other questions come out of this one question. Questions like “What is God?” “Where is God?” and how is God doing all of this?” All of these questions pop up in our heads for nothing because these questions will never be answered if you really think God exists. There are questions in life that you want an answer for in order to lead to happiness or a meaningful
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The question of the existence of God plagues humanity. For centuries, philosophers debated the question of this existence. One philosopher, H. J. McCloskey, wrote an article in February 1968 entitled "On Being an Atheist." In his article McCloskey argues against the three common arguments for the existence of God. The arguments, or proofs as McCloskey refers to them, are the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, and the argument from design. While most scholars see the last two arguments
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interesting questions in the world is, “If a God exists, why is there evil in the world?” Most people respond with, “If God created the universe and us, then there should not be evil in the world,” when asked about God or any other powerful being. The problem of evil is also believed to be the cause of Atheism, and I do believe that there is a solution for this. The problem of evil is not a correct argument. The arguments from evil state that if there is a God who is omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly
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Does Religion give life meaning and purpose? Does Religion give life meaning and purpose? Yes it does. A Christian will insist and believes that there is an Almighty God. A Buddhist will want to try to achieve enlightenment and a Hindu will want to achieve Moksha. An atheist is a person who disbelieves in the existence of God or gods of other religions. An atheist thinks that religion is no what gives life meaning. They think that the meaning of your life is based on how you live it. Atheists believe
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From birth to death, we search for what's yet to be known We and hope and pray and ask, but we are never shown” - George Petit St. Thomas Aquinas explores in Question Two: The Existence of God the over arching question of whether God exists. He examines five reasons or arguments as too how God must exist and the ways in which it can be proved. The most interesting of which is argument number three, that is the reductio argument, or rather the argument from possibility and necessity. In his argument
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possible to prove whether God does or does not really exist. Since this is true, he thinks that it is better to believe that God exists, due to the reward being eternal happiness forever. If one doesn’t believe in His existence, they would be punished to eternal damnation. If God doesn’t exist, but you believed, you lose nothing whereas if you do not believe in a God that doesn’t exist, you gain nothing. His argument says that reason and intellect can’t decide whether God exists or not, and therefore
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Throughout the world both philosophy and religion are studies heavily. Although both have completely different definitions and meanings, they provide us with and explanation and knowledge of God. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, philosophy is defined as being a “pursuit of wisdom”, “a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means”, and “an analysis of the grounds and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs.” Philosophy is a
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2013 “The Existence of God” There is no way I can deny the existence of God, and the existence of religion. Atheists rely heavily on science to make their claim to God’s non existence and likewise religion. Recasting traditional formal arguments and beliefs in scientific language gives them greater credibility in the minds of many. I respect the opinion of atheist and other free thinkers, but I do not share their beliefs in the non existence of God. However I agree that formal
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cannot prove that God exists, one cannot disprove God’s existence either. Showing that something cannot be proved to exist is not the same as proving that it doesn’t exist. To establish that God doesn’t exist, we need a different set of arguments, which many people believe is impossible to come up with. The existence of an omnipotent, omniscient God is still largely debatable. However, there are thoughts and hypotheses that make it more reasonable for the existence of such a God. A God who is the creator
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Midterm Readings are in Weeks 5-6 of Blackboard (Locke, Berkeley, Paley, Aquinas, Anselm, Hume and Pascal). 1. How is Locke a representational realist? What does Locke’s copy theory claim about our perception of physical objects? Which kinds of qualities really inhere in external objects, primary or secondary qualities? pretty sure its primary What are examples of primary versus secondary qualities? Representational Realist b/c he believes that ideas of sensation are caused by objectively
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Pascal is famous, among other reasons, for his wager-argument for God. Pascal’s wager treats belief in God as a choice to believe or to not believe. Either God exists or he does not. By believing that he does exist one receives salvation. However, by believing he does not exist one receives eternal punishment. In other words, by breaking down this wager one is able to perceive what he or she risks by not believing or by believing in God and in turn causes them to evaluate their future in the after-life
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non-technical English. EXISTENCE OF GOD Logical argument: Gods existence doesn’t use evidence only thought. (Idea that you can prove that God is real by using the word God.) If you can picture something greater then God then you don’t really believe in God. Empirical Argument: Used evidence, its uses our observation. (“the fact that we can observe that most people believe in God, for ex. Provides evidence that there is God.” -Pena) Most arguments of God are empirical. Argument of
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Anselm. He is most famously known for his attempted proof of the existence of God, known as an ontological argument, stated on page 187 in the Living Philosophy textbook. Knowing the meaning of the word God, it can be proved by logic that a supreme being is a reality. To briefly explain his argument; Anselm wanted to prove that God actually exists, because in order to be the greatest possible being you must have to exist not only in understanding, but in reality. In order to defend Anselm’s Ontological
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and its relevance to the existence of God. This paper will be about the problem of evil and how the free will defense explained the existence of an omnipotent being. The problem of evil, as stated by Inwagen, is that it contradicts the existence of God. We live in a world where evil is a constant part of many people’s lives. If there were a God, why would they continue to let such horrors continue? The argument of evil assumes that there are two features of God that are supposed to be non-negotiable
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The Existence of God Proof of Gods existence has always been a question I often ponder about. Almost everyone at some particular point in his or her life has challenged the existence of God. This may happen for a number of reasons. For example he or she might have been at a point in their life when their faith alone was just not enough for them to believe. Humans have a natural instinct to find reasons for events that can’t be explained. Whether or not God exists has risen to conflict and caused
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1225-1274 (Palmer 2013). He argued over the existence of God, but he had five philosophical arguments called the cosmological arguments. Anslem and Aquinas have two different philosophies, but some comparisons and contrasts exist between the two arguments. While Anselm’s argument comes from a theory of being, Thomas was concerned with observing the natural world. If beings can conceive an incredible, necessary being then a greater being exists, according to Saint Anselm. If humans do not have an idea
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philosophically. He does so in depth and as objective as one could possible do. In order to help the reader relate to the metaphysical in an objective fashion is by using the examples of numbers. Obviously numbers exist, as we use them on a daily basis. However Appiah used this illustration to show how philosophers in the past have attempted to either prove or disprove the existence of the metaphysical, more specifically God. Appiah’s first premise concerning metaphysics introduces God as a proper noun
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God The mere claim, that there could be “Proof for the Existence of God,” seems to invite ridicule. As far as the ideal, that the Earth might be round. Not always are those who laugh first and think later right. Many well-known scientists now admit that certain discoveries tend to indicate that God rather does exist than not. However, if I picture God as being everywhere, surrounding us like air or awareness then, an understanding of what God is suddenly becomes real. Simply by looking at what
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