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PHILOSOPHY THEME 1
PART A - Coggle Diagram
PHILOSOPHY THEME 1
PART A
Key words:
Premises= evidence we use to build an argument
Conclusion= result we can draw from our evidence
Inductive= type of argument that concludes that something is likely, based on posteriori evidence
Deductive= argument that concludes that something must be the case, based on priori evidence
Priori= without, or prior, to experience. Knowledge independent of experience
Posteriori= after experience. Knowledge based on empirical evidence
Epistemology:
- is the branch of philosophy which deals with how we acquire knowledge.
- Deals with questions such as, 'how do we know?'
- If we know basic things about the world, then science and philosophy are possible: we can find out/think about the world
- If we don't know somet for certain. knowledge becomes opinion rather than fact
- Theories: Plato & Aristotle
Plato
C.428-C.348BCE
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- Rationalists claim we can gain knowledge independently, or prior experience
Aristotle
C.384-C.322BCE
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- Empiricists claim we gain knowledge a posteriori, through our sense experience
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Cosmological Argument:
- Why is there something rather than nothing?
- Empirical evidence that the universe exists and attempt to argue that cause is God.
- Argument is persuasive= difficult to doubt that universe exists, and scientific explanations om origin of world fail to explain why anything exists at all. Idea of there being a God seems plausible
- Plato argued that everything must have been created by some cause, and Aristotle argued there must be an unmoved mover behind the cause and effect.
- Aquinas believed that Aristotle's ideas were compatible with the Christian faith- especially the 'Prime Mover', reason can be used to support faith
Kalam Argument:
- rooted in the ancient Islamic thought
- Ghazali was a 12th Century Muslim thinker who thought Islamic theology had become too rooted in Greek philosophy especially when it came to cause and effect.
- All causes are caused by God and nothing happens without God's will
- Universe must have a beginning, because the idea of a universe without a beginning is absurd
- " Every being which begins has a cause for beginning... the world is a being which begins, therefore it possesses a cause for its beginning."
William Lane Craig:
- American philosopher
- Thought there were weaknesses in Aquinas's argument as he didn't make a compelling case for why infinite regress was impossible.
- Used Kalam argument to provide solid evidence to justify: that universe can't be infinite and must have beginning and this must have been caused by God
Everything has a cause for its beginning:
- There has got to be a cause for why universe exists, otherwise why would anything exist and everything else has a cause for why its here
The universe began to exist:
- Potential infinites is that things go on without reaching an end
- Universe being infinite is impossible. Never arrive at 'infinieth' number in a series
Universe must have a cause:
- Before universe existed there was no physical forces and time began when universe began meaning must be a cause for beginning
- Universe must have been created by someone with many powers- a transcendent God
- Cause of universe must be a personal being
Criticisms
Challenge of induction:
- when we use inductive reasoning, we make a big assumption
- assume future will resemble past, just because something happened in past doesn't mean it will happen in future
Challenge to cause and effect:
- CA makes an assumption that every effect must have a cause
- using problem of induction, cause and effect is uncertain
- empirical observation can tell us what is happening, but not what causes things
- cause and effect is assumption, not certainty
Challenge to the universe having cause:
- even if everything has cause, doesn't follow universe as a whole have cause
- fallacy of composition= what is true of the part is true of a whole. Overstepping the rules of logic to move from individual causes of individual things, to view that totality has a cause.
- If we apply ackham's razor- simpler to think universe always existed
- "human race hasn't a mother"
Challenge to idea of God as the first cause/evidence that God exists:
- if universe caused by God, no requirement of that to be God of classical theism
- since we weren't at beginning, can't tell if universe began or caused
- Insufficient evidence, not possible to talk meaningfully about God creating universe