Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
4 Types of Arguments for the Existence of God (IV. Moral (Natural Law…
4 Types of Arguments for the Existence of God
I. Cosmological
Based on the existence of the universe
4 forms of the cosmological argument (Aquinis's 5 ways)
The unmoved mover
Some things in the world move
Whatever moves is caused to move by something else
An infinite change of movers is impossible because there would be no first mover to initiate the motion
God is the first mover that was not moved by something else
The First Cause
Everything in the world has a cause
Every cause precedes that which it causes
Nothing causes itself to be, so whatever is caused to be is caused by something else
God is the first cause
The Necessary Being
Things in the world exist and cease to exist
Nothing comes from nothing
If nothing existed, nothing could come into existence
Things manifestly exists
Therefore, there must exist some things, the existence of which is not contingent, but necessary
A necessary being must either be caused to exist by something else or by itself
Therefore, there must exist a necessary being that exists of its own necessity
The Greatest Perfection
Everything that exists has varying qualities
Since there are gradations of perfection in each such quality, there must exist something that is the greatest in each such quality
The greatest of a particular kind is the cause of everything of that kind
There god is the greatest of perfection
III. Ontological
It is a priori argument: argument prior to experience. Based on our reason alone
Starts from our idea of the perfection of god
Anselm's Argument
Either god exists solely as an idea in our minds or god exists in reality
Existence in reality is greater than existence as an idra
Existence is a perfection
If god exists only as an idea in our minds, then something greater than our idea of God can be thought: God as existing in reality
We have a conception of God as a wholly perfect being
II. Teleological
Two Conclusions:
There must exist in the present a "designer" who actively directs the world towards it end or purpose
There must have existed at some point in the past a "designer" who designed the world to achieve the end or purpose towards which it moves
Premises
The world exhibits complexity and order
complexity and order are evidence of design
design is evidence of purpose
design for a purpose is evidence of a designer
Paley's Analogical Argument
the unvierse exibits complexity, order, and regularity similar to a watch
a watch is designed
A watch exibits complexity, order, and regularity
therefore, the world must designed
the designer of all things is GOD
design implies the existence of a designer
IV. Moral
What is it to be Good/Evil, Right/Wrong?
What is it to do what is Good/Evil, Right/Wrong
What is it to know Good/Evil, Right/Wrong
Natural Law Theory: Moral laws are objective, non-natural facts about the world
Moral truths could not come about naturally
Therefore, the existence of a natural moral law require the existence of a supra-natural moral lawgiver (i.e. god) who determined the Natural Moral Law
Moral truths are objective facts about the world (independted of human judgmement
Divine command theory: God's commands/will determine what is good and evil, and gods will
The existence of divine will is the best explanation for existence of moral truths
Therefore, morality consists in conformity to God's will
God's will is expressed in divine commands