Agnosticism

Zayd Boucaud Professor Sarah Allen Philosophy December 4, 2017 "Cleanthes' Argument from Design" This essay will divulge into the deeper meaning of Cleanthes’ argument from design, with an explanation of not only his views, but the opposition’s as well (with a further understanding about why his argument may be proven invalid.) Cleanthes’ premises (leading to his valid conclusion) will have further, more simple explanations that will show his own reasoning in favor of God’s existence.) Flaws in…

Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine both were visionaries in their day, understanding that the world around us was more than just dirt and rock but that there was a divine infinite universe in front of us to explore and all you had to do was look up. While both of these men could be found laying the bricks for the age of enlightenment in the colonies and paving the way for a new country, free of British rule, they were also vastly different in individual temperament. Benjamin Franklin and…

Evolutionary biologists such as Richard Dawkins1 , Paul Meyers2, and Jerry Coyne3, and philosophers of science such as Daniel Dennett4, Micheal Ruse5, and Peter Singer6 have produced differing defences and explanations of Darwinism, its roots, and its various implications within a Neo-Darwinian framework. In many cases, these have been intended for wider consumption beyond academia and have incorporated the promotion of Darwin as a unique historical agent, with Dawkins arguably leading the pack…

NVM Gonzales’ “The Bread Of Salt” and Gregorio C. Brilliantes’ “The Cries Of Children On An April Afternoon in the Year 1957” are stories that both similarly center on a teenage male protagonist and somewhat broach the idea of innocence and naivety brought about by youth. “The Bread Of Salt” is about an ambitious fourteen-year old, lower class boy who dreams of success and aspires towards winning the heart of a young lady named Aida. Unfortunately, Aida belongs to a prominent Spanish family. And…

Satirical entertainment has continually evolved. Mostly being social commentary placed in the framework of humor that actively ridicules and exposes the weaknesses in humans, satire has adapted to the dynamic, ever changing vices that is human nature. Contemporary satire has evolved, displaying itself in a multitude of outlets. With vast technological advances, contemporary satire is no longer only present in books, and it no longer is proved as ineffective. Contemporary satire has inserted…

J.R.R. Tolkien once guaranteed that, "The Lord of the Rings is obviously an on a very basic level religious and Christian work; unwittingly so at to start with, yet intentionally in the update". This is borne out in an examination of his labor of love, the making of the legendary history of Middle-earth. ·: Magic :· "Enchantment" in the writing of Tolkien 's Middle-earth is firmly related neither to that rehearsed in the mysterious nor to the illusions of performers. It is not the same as…

Coming into this class at the beginning of the semester, I was very confused about the subject of “truth”. Over the past few years, my definition of this word had changed dramatically. I had hoped that taking a deeper look into worldviews would help me create a contrast between what I did and did not believe, and if I could find the truth of Christianity which had been eluding me for so long. In this course, I found that the topics of Classical Christian Theism, Deism, Traditionalism, New Age…

play. Yes, of course I believed in God, Jesus, and angels; but did they genuinely intervene in the everyday lives of every believer created in his image? The Doubting Thomas in me needed to face a substantive encounter before I could rid of any agnosticism. Indeed, such an encounter undeniably focused my dubious and perplexed view. Prayers are answered and miracles do happen as I uncovered in my own claimed experience. The day was beautifully alluring with the warm, luminous sun and the…

In Saint Manuel, Martyr, the priest Don Manuel is much like Augusto in that he succumbs to obsession and is unable to prevent his own downfall. For many years, he is able to hide his skepticism, but time wears on him. Instead of being able to handle... he feels shame. Lazarus explains how Don Manuel revealed the truth to him, full of shame, “He looked away…his eyes filled with tears…in this way I came to understand his secret.” (Mist 35) In his later years, Don Manuel can’t keep up the façade…

In The Presumption of Atheism , Michael Scriven argues that when arguments for the existence of God are unable to provide the evidence required to maintain this conclusion (and Scriven believes this to be the case for all such arguments) the only position that one can rationally maintain is atheism. I will first elaborate the salient points of Scriven’s reasoning in arriving at his conclusion and then attempt to challenge some of the assumptions that Scriven makes in the course of his argument,…