Argument map

Nearly everyone at some point in their life has questioned whether or not there is a God, and there are many arguments as to why or why not God is real, but through observation of the universe one can conclude that due to the patterns that arise and complexity of it all that God does exist. While God’s exact nature cannot be pinned down by these observations, one can get a rough understanding of Him and the level of power He has. In this day and age, having faith is simply not good enough for…

explicating a handful of philosophical theories to determine which one is best. I will analyze the controversies and counter arguments of each theory starting with Pascal’s Wager, followed by the Cosmological Argument, and finally the Argument from Evil. Pascal’s Wager, the belief that people must choose whether or not to bet on God’s existence, is the most sound argument making it superior to the others. Pascal’s Wager begins by examining nature. He argues that “We know that the infinite…

philosophers throughout history. In this essay, I will critically evaluate Richard Swinburne’s cosmological argument which can be found in this book is there a god? Richard Swinburne states that his book is trying “To reach a conclusion about whether, on balance the arguments indicate that there is a God or that there is not." Richard Swinburne attempts to convey his cosmological argument by attempting to explain how we explain things. Swinburne states that “we can find two different kinds of…

business people, getting others to agree to our ideas will be a crucial part of our jobs. We need to understand the best strategies to persuade others. In order to understand persuasion, we need to know the objectives of persuasion, what type of arguments to use, and how to successfully persuade. The three main objectives of persuasion are reinforcing positive opinions, realizing unformed opinions, and neutralizing hostile opinions. Reinforcing positive opinions is often the easiest. When…

God’s existence has been a key topic of debate over the past couple of centuries. People argue either way very strongly, and many are not open to hearing the other side. When this topic is argued, there are two main arguments, the cosmological and teleological argument. In this article, “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey argues against each of these views. He believes that without sure “proof” of God, we need to totally pitch the idea that God exists. If this were the case, many…

essay, I will defend for the existence of God. First I will present Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God on the claim that he is the greatest conceivable being, then I will present Gaunilo’s objection for the unsoundness of Anselm’s argument on the claim of which there are no set limitations for the characteristic of the greatness, which I think fails. I will show that Anselm’s ontological argument can withstand Gaunilo’s objection by emphasizing the maximal characteristics God…

what we know is true. Therefore, I believe that Descartes would respond to this problem by proving we have some base knowledge and by making an argument against this idea, however I do not think his theories can prove all of our knowledge. Descartes did not discuss…

RS Essay ‘The teleological argument proves that God exists.’ Evaluate this sentence. The teleological argument or the argument from design, proposed by the philosopher William Paley, is an argument for the existence of God. It is based on the theory of design and Paley uses the analogy of a watch having been designed by a watchmaker and the universe equally having a ‘universe-maker’. Thus, Paley deduces that the skilled designer who could create this complex and intricate universe could only be…

McCloskey’s view on this argument is said to be similar to his views on the cosmological argument. He shares in his article that this argument is unreasonable because this argument cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt. This standard for a perfect argument that McCloskey requires seems unrealistic. Certainly, it cannot be possible to prove one-hundred perfect that any argument is absolutely without a doubt true. If the conclusion follows the premises, the argument is valid, but not…

The existence of God has been debated throughout history. There are many arguments for the existence of God but there are two commonly-accepted arguments among theists: the cosmological argument and the teleological argument also known as the argument from design. In his article entitled “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey attempts to refute each of these arguments. His stated purpose in the article is to provide reasons for atheism and to show that it is more comforting to be an atheist than…