Everyone looks for something greater than themselves, and most people find it in their spiritual life. But for many people it is hard for them to believe in a God, or a superior being because of their selfish desires. Peter Kreeft, a professor of philosophy, has written an article the “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” in which he states 20 arguments that prove the existence of God. One of his main arguments is the Argument of Desire which says that everyone has a desire for some real object that satisfies us. But in us there is a desire which nothing in time, on earth, and no creature can satisfy. Because of this there must be something more than time, earth and creatures that can satisfy our desire.
The first premise shows us that there is two kinds of desires: natural and artificial. As humans we naturally desire a lot of things such as: food, drink, sex, sleep, knowledge, friendship, and beauty; and we shun things like starvation, loneliness, ignorance and ugliness. For every natural desire there is an object. Our natural desires from within and our artificial desires come from the society. Natural desires are found in everybody, while the artificial desires can vary from person to person. If the object that we desire does not exist in this world that we live in now, it must exist in another world, with God. Thus,
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when life is free from pain, our needs will be satisfied and we will hopefully live eternally with God forever. The second premise says that there is nothing in the natural world, nothing in time, on earth, and no creature that can satisfy us.
Some people may say that they are satisfied with life on earth and everything that they have on it, but material things will never completely satisfy someone. This requires honest introspection. Introspection is the examination or observations of one’s own mental and emotional processes. If you were to choose a focus for your own introspection, good ones would include your goals, career, family, friends, your spirituality, and love. One needs to have honest introspection to have control over their own
emotions. I have many natural desires. A desire to win, to have knowledge, friendships, and beauty. The desires that everyone has differs from one person to the next but everybody can agree that we all have natural desires that should not be as important to us as they are. There are many material things on this earth that make me happy, but I know that this happiness is only temporary and that in Heaven, with God, I will be truly happy with Him forever.
begin with. This we call God, so we call God the prime mover i.e. the
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.
When it comes to choosing an argument for the existence of god I believe that Paley’s argument of creation and design is the best for proving that god does exist. In his argument Paley is suggesting that if we were to look at the world around us, we could easily come to the conclusion that it was not created by pure chance but, by a creator (a designer). Paley uses a watch and a rock in order to explain his argument. He mentions how if there was a watch on the floor and we have never seen it before, we would easily come to the conclusion that the watch could not have been made by pure chance but, some kind of intelligent design was put into it. He argues that when we look at the rock we do not so easily see the design, but it does not mean
Roger White presents an interesting argument for why God must exist. In his argument, White states that everything in the world is finely tuned to live its life accordingly. In order for this to be possible, God must have finely tuned all beings so that they were well fit for life. In depth, this argument is, “If a fact stands in need of an explanation, and a hypothesis explains this fact better than anything else, then they support each other. Our universe being so perfect for life is a fact in need of explanation. The hypothesis that God has finely tuned everything to be where all living beings can exist in this universe is an explanation to this fact. No other hypothesis compares to such a standard as this one. Therefore, the fact that our
people’s overall happiness and this is what God desires, so in fact this theory includes God
Many people in the world get into an almost unbreakable routine, shielding themselves from the real world. We wake up, brush our teeth, go to school with the same people, go home, and do it all over again. Once there is a roadblock in the way, it forces us to step outside our shell and look at others views for a change. American mythologist, writer, and lecturer,Joseph Campbell once said,”We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” It is the act of noticing others words and actions that will reshape our lives for the better. In “Secret Samantha” and “Sol Painting, Inc.” the authors suggest that observing someone else’s perspective and taking the time to understand others can be mankind's greatest
The problem we have in today’s society is that people work to acquire as much money and possessions as they can and they think this will achieve happiness. Unfortunately, nobody told these people that happiness cannot be purchased and our possessions will fade no longer keep our interest. As we engulf ourselves in our daily busy work, our relationships are becoming strained and we are distancing ourselves from real happiness. We are seeking the means of work and money as an end, and we are chasing the wrong things in life. We hide from our unhappiness by watching television or partake in activities to distract ourselves from our problems. We need to find true happiness and this is found in becoming virtuous, creating good friendships,
Based on how the deniers support their argument, one can deduce that they ought to be non-believers of God. Since there are no evidence that suggest God’s existence and religious leaders could have falsely created the belief for the purpose of power and status in society. This is a way of identifying the type of people who are anti-semitic, by applying there logic to other perspectives on life. If one would to be anti-semitic but believe in God, then there argument would have contradictions based the basis that makes them deny the Holocaust. It can be viewed that the motivation for Holocaust denial is to restore the Nazis’ image, so that the ideology of national socialism can be more acceptable. David Irving is a Holocaust denier, who strongly believes that the Holocaust is all made up. He was discredited as an historian and was accused for manipulating historical evidence. In one of his book, Hitler’s War, he illustrates Hitler as
Ralph Waldo Emerson, nineteenth century poet and writer, expresses a philosophy of life, based on our inner self and the presence of the soul. Emerson regarded and learned from the great minds of the past, he says repeatedly that each person should live according to his own thinking. I will try to explain Emerson’s philosophy, according to what I think is the central theme in all his works. “Do not seek answers outside yourself”. This is the main idea of Waldo’s philosophy.
Over the course of our lives, there are times where we are at a high point, where our lives are full of happiness and there is nothing for us to worry about. However, we often come to sit back and realize that our lives might not be exactly how we imagine it. There are problems and obstacles that we must choose to overcome. With the rate society is evolving at, we miss out on the little things like friends and family that makes our lives that much more special. Life can be filled with bliss no matter how bad things may seem and we can find true happiness from fixing these problems to make our lives blissful.
Man is created in the image and likeness of God. The purpose of his existence is to reach his full potential, that being to live a life that is more human, more Christian a life that is similar to that of Christ's. Thus, our existence revolves upon loving and inculcating our knowledge in the minds of others. These Christian concepts is essential in Fr. De Torre's discussion of the perfectibility of man through education.
We are more than our identities. To know your inner self is to know your purpose, your values, your goals, and your motivations. Aligning with your inner thyself. Knowing your inner self comes from self-awareness, having a clarity of your inner self opens the consciousness and set up a solid focus in self-actualization. Referring to the need of personal growth and development that exists throughout their life cycle. Life is about pushing self in accomplishing goals although a challenge because of risky obstacles that always lands on our track of completion. An individual’s identity is molded by many diverse aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and adjoining environments are all influences that tend to help shape a person’s
...es us how to free our minds from these negative desires. In order to free our bodies from karma attached to us. We have to realize the purpose of our lives and what we have to do in order to please God. Finally, in the Book of Job, Job eventually lets his desire take over his mind and turn down his trust in God. Desire is a feeling that’s naturally in human beings and if an individual can rid themselves of the negative desires. It will ultimately benefit that individual but in the Book of Job, The Letter of Abelard and Heloise, and The Bhagavad-Gita. Desire is presented not only as a bad thing but a desire can ultimately ruin our life.
We might not have the same opinions, paths, and ways of living; but we all, millions of people around the world, share the same purpose of life: Being able to say “I am having a good life!” What we mean by “good life” is living in pure happiness and having a wonderful peace of mind. The difference between us is that each one of us chooses a different way in his pursuit of happiness. Some find it in stability with a big house, a family, and a good paying job. Some find it in adventure and wildness, travel, and taking risks. While others don’t really have specific criteria or an organized plan, they just believe that happiness comes with living each day as if it was the last, with no worries about the rest. Personally, I find it in trying to be the best version of myself, in staying true to my principles, and in the same time in being able to make my own decisions; which reminds me of what George Loewenstein said “Just because we figure out that X makes people happy and they're choosing Y, we don't want to impose X on them.”
... satisfied with life. Through the ‘focusing illusion’ we convince ourselves that satisfaction equals happiness. Unfortunately it doesn’t. Even though we appear to have everything, we are left feeling that something is missing, but are unable to identify what that thing is.