The question of God’s existence has been debated through the history of man, with every philosopher from Socrates to Immanuel Kant weighing in on the debate. So great has this topic become that numerous proofs have been invented and utilized to prove or disprove God’s existence. Yet no answer still has been reached, leaving me to wonder if any answer at all is possible. So I will try in this paper to see if it is possible to philosophically prove God’s existence.
Before I start the paper there are a few points that must be established. First is a clear definition of Philosophy of Religion, which is the area of philosophy that applies philosophical methods to study a wide variety of religious issues including the existence of God. The use of the philosophical method makes Philosophy of Religion distinct from theology, which is the study of God and any type of issues that relate to the divine. Now there are two types of theology, Revealed and Natural Theology. Revealed Theology claims that our knowledge of God comes through special revelations such as the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the Koran. Saint Thomas Aquinas indicates that Revealed Theology provides what he calls “Saving Knowledge”, which is knowledge that will result in our salvation. Now Natural Theology is our knowledge of God that one ascertains through natural reasoning, or reasoning that is unaided by special revelations. Saint Thomas noted that this type of reasoning can provide knowledge of God’s nature, or even prove his existence, but can never result in the person attaining salvation for as he states, even demons know that God exists. A note must be made before we press on; as one might notice Natural Theology is akin to philosophy of religion in the sense that both use human reasoning in their attempts to explain the divine. The main difference between them of course is the range of the topics considered.
Ontological Argument
The Ontological Argument, which argues from a definition of God’s being to his existence, is the first type of argument we are going to examine. Since this argument was founded by Saint Anslem, we will be examining his writings. Saint Anslem starts by defining God as an all-perfect being, or rather as a being containing all conceivable perfections. Now if in addition of possessing all conceivable perfections t...
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... look like an angel.
Both Bubar and Fackenheim claim that there argument is not one that argues from a religious experience; hence they are immune to the fallacies of that argument. Yet critics counter that they are presenting an argument from a religious experience, one that is incompletely stated. One might remark that many people, who claim to have had glimpses of God, as Fackenheim puts it, are in both of these philosophers mind delusional. Charles Guiteau who assassinated President Garfield acted upon what he thought was instructions from God. As John Baillie puts it, there must be some criteria to distinguish fake encounters from real. We simply cannot take Bubar’s word that certain glances are illusionary while others are not.
In conclusion I am left pretty much in the same place as I have started. It is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of God philosophically. For every philosopher who publishes his or her opinions on the subject, three more are there to tear it down. In the end I think it is best that man does not figure out the answer to this lifelong question. Some things are better left unanswered.
To begin, Anselm’s ontological proof functions from the essence of God to God’s existence. The argument
FRANCO H. B., 1995 O Plano Real e outros ensaios, 1st edition Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves Editora.
8- McDermid, Douglas. "God's Existence." PHIL 1000H-B Lecture 9. Trent University, Peterborough. 21 Nov. 2013. Lecture.
First let us see a summary of what each argument entails. First, Anselm. One of the most fascinating arguments that is for an all-perfect God, and this is Anselm’s ontological argument. The main goal of this argument is to show that it is “self-contradictory” to deny that there is a greater being. Ontological arguments are trying to prove the existence of God from the definition of God. This is coming from the concept that if a bachelor were to say, every bachelor is a male, we could apply this concept to the existence of God, and generally imply that God Exists. Though there is one issue with this way of thinking, a bachelor means within the definition that someone is unmarried, whereas with God, there is no proof for the existence of God within his definition. (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Other factors that affect the behaviour of two bodies in contact when a collision is involved are momentum and elasticity. Linear momentum is the product of an object’s mass and its velocity. The total momentum present in a given system remains constant barring the action of external forces. Changes in momentum result from impulses, external forces acting over a time interval. The elasticity of an impact governs the amount of velocity present in the system following the impact. The relative elasticity of two affecting body is represented by the coefficient of restitutions.
This paper's purpose is to prove the existence of God. There are ten main reasons that are presented in this paper that show the actuality of God. It also shows counter-arguments to the competing positions (the presence of evil). It also gives anticipatory responses to possible objections to the thesis.
Thomas Aquinas was a teacher of the Dominican Order and he taught that most matters of The Divine can be proved by natural human reason, while “Others were strictly ‘of faith’ in that they could be grasped only through divine revelation.” This was a new view on the faith and reason argument contradictory to both Abelard with his belief that faith should be based on human reason, and the Bernard of Clairvaux who argued that one should only need faith.
The existence of God has been hotly debated among scholars throughout the centuries, but what do we know and what can we prove? What do the predominant religious and nonreligious thinkers past and present have to say about the nature of God? Where do they agree and disagree? Is there common ground on attributes of God which we may all agree and if so, is it plausible that this God exists or has ever existed? In the following pages we will explore this broad ranging and vitally important topic. We will restrict our discussion to the philosophical beliefs about the nature of God, and will attempt to arrive at a generalization of what it means to be called God. Along the way, we will attempt to explore some of the arguments for God’s existence and present some common objections to those arguments.
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS God generally refers to one supreme, holy, personal being,. The divine unity of ultimate good-ness and of ultimate reality. St. Anselm of Canterbury developed what we have learned to be the ontological argument. He began his argument by saying that even a fool can grasp or understand the concept of "a being than of which nothing greater can be conceived." He continues to state that a fool would say that the concept of this being's existence is only in his mind and in the mind of others but not in reality. However he also admits to the possibility of this being existing in reality. Whatever is understood by the fool is argued that than which nothing is greater can be conceived cannot solely exist in the mind but also in reality, hence, God exists. (Angelfire) This personally sounds like a salesperson's pitch to confuse and conquer for a sale. Gaunilo felt the same. He frequently debated with St. Anselm on behalf of the fool. He stated that it was not possible to visualize the concept of this perfect being because one can only imagine an image when one has an idea of what that image is suppose to resemble.
In this signature assignment, I will discuss my understanding of multiculturalism in a pluralistic society. Furthermore, a portion of this essay will focus on Constitutional Right’s protecting basic educational freedoms as well as factors that affect public education in America. Lastly, I will conclude the assignment with suggestions for delivering a multicultural education in the future.
In this essay I discuss why there is proof that there is a supernatural being known as God, who has created everything we know and experience.
...orte de Cristo, a crucificação, uma vez que depois de tudo o que tinha acontecido no mundo era impossível ainda existir um Deus. Vladimir e Estragon não vivem, eles apenas existem. A sociedade ficou tão destruída que eles ficaram parados no tempo, ficaram perdidos no universo, perderam o rumo da sua própria vida. Eles existem numa sociedade que se está a tentar reconstruir e que está a tentar voltar a ter esperança. No segundo Acto, Vladimir olha à sua volta e repara que as coisas estão diferentes, que a árvore já está completamente coberta de folhas, e isso simboliza a vida, a regeneração, a esperança. As folhas que cobrem a árvore são um sinal de esperança, esperança de que tudo vá melhorar.
El proyecto gira en torno a explicar los conceptos sobre el tema elegido, los cambios sociales más importantes y las consideraciones sobre los determinantes sociales de la salud realizando una identificación a cerca de los factores que determinan esta situación. Seguidamente se detalla unas propuestas de mejora en cuanto a la puesta en marcha del proyecto, realizando una descripción de dicha propuesta por lo que plantean 14 sesiones como ejemplo para el Punto de encuentro y comedor.
This essay will be examining the key arguments for the existence of God, in order to discuss the claim that “it is wrong to believe in anything without sufficient evidence”- with reference to the non-existence of God. It will be exploring both a priori and an a posteriori argument for the existence of God. It will solely be concentrating on the Theological argument, Cosmological argument and the Ontological argument, in order, to analyse their significance and contribution in vindicating the claim for the existence of God. The essay will begin by providing a clear philosophical characterisation of the God of Classical Theism, in order to accurately evaluate the arguments for his existence. The essay will explore varying interpretations and observations by scholars, in order to reach an accurate judgement on whether there is sufficient evidence provided to prove or disprove the existence of God.
Composição predominente em tons azuis, verdes, violetas, cinzas, terras, laranjas, brancos, preto, rosas, lilases e branco, apresenta pinceladas marcadas e textura lisa. Portinari optou pelo tema intemporal dos Quatro Cavaleiros do Apocalipse. Usou de sua liberdade de criação para encontrar uma alternativa que ele encontrou para o tema realista de combates do século XX, e arsenal de armas. A guerra foi representada pelo sofrimento que a guerra gera na sociedade e não nos combates e soldados. A cor dos cavalos é relacionada ao texto biblíco, na qual o primeiro é branco, o segundo é cor de fogo (vermelho), o terceiro é preto e o quarto é baio (amarelo). Encontra-se feras carniceiras pela tela, hienas mostrando as