PHILOSOPHY THEME 1 - INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS

WHAT ARE INDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS?

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The person doing the reasoning uses their sensory experiences to make rules or predictions.

When people draw conclusions from particular examples

Therefore, inductive arguments lead to conclusions that MIGHT be true - but might also be wrong.

WHAT ARE ANALOGOUS REASONINGS?

COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT - THOMAS AQUINAS

Type of inductive reasoning which relies in the use of analogy to arrive at a conclusion.

This means that similarities between the two, different things between the two are used to support the conclusion,

PRIORI & POSTERIORI

Priori arguments (deductive) - DO NOT rely on evidence or experiences.

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Posteriori arguments (inductive) - they RELY on experiences and evidence to reach a conclusion.

The cosmological argument is a philosophical argument that tries to prove the existence of God based on the existence of the universe.

  1. The universe exists.


  2. Everything that exists must have a cause that brought it into existence.


  3. The cause of the universe cannot be part of the universe itself, which doesn't make sense.


  4. Therefore, the cause of the universe must be something outside the universe - something we would call God.

The key idea is that since the universe exists, there must be some ultimate cause or explanation for its existence, and that cause must be something beyond the physical universe itself. This is seen by proponents as evidence for the existence of God as the creator of the universe.

AQUINAS'S 3 WAYS

  1. The Unmoved Mover.

The universe is in motion but God himself isn't in motion.

  1. The Uncaused Causer.

God caused the universe to be in existence, but nothing caused God to exist.

3. Contingency

All humans depend on God, the necessary being.

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