A Level Philosophy Metaphysics of God/
Latest Update 2024-2025
Empiricist objections to a priori arguments for existence (Hume) - CORRECT
ANSWERS -Anything we can conceive of as existent, he says, we can also conceive of
as non-existent.
1) A contradiction cannot be coherently conceived
2) 'God does not exist' can be coherently conceived.
3) Therefore 'God does not exist' is not a contradiction.
If 'God does not exist' is not a contradiction, then the ontological argument fails to prove
'God exists' is an analytic truth.
Kant's: Existence is not a Predicate - CORRECT ANSWERS -Adding the expression
"and it exists" does not add anything to the person/object. A bachelor is defined as an
unmarried man. The essential property to be a bachelor is to be unmarried. If I were to
add that bachelor's also exist, I would not be giving it a further property of bachelor's
because to be a bachelor means that you must already exist. We have treated the
existence of God as a property like being all powerful or all knowing. Yet God could not
be omniscient or omnipotent without existing. So by giving God a description at all, we
have assumed God's existence. Kant is therefore arguing that existence is a
precondition of properties; it is not a property.
Malcolm's Ontological Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -P1) God's existence is
impossible if the concept of God self contradictory.
P2) The concept of God is not self contradictory
C1) Therefore God's existence is not impossible
C2) Therefore God exists necessarily
The Teleological Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -Aims to show that certain features
of nature or the laws of nature suggest they were designed by a God.
Paley's Design Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -Paley draws an analogy between
man-made objects, such as a watch, and certain aspects of nature. If you found a watch
on a beach you wouldn't assume it just appeared like, say, a pebble.
The reason for this is that a watch is composed of many parts organised for a purpose.
This, Paley argues, is the hallmark of design. For something to be designed, it must
have had a designer.
This designer, Paley says, is God.
Hume's objection to the analogy - CORRECT ANSWERS -1) Man-made items (houses,
watches, phones, etc.) are very different from nature
2) We can observe man-made items being designed, but we have no such experience
of this in the case of nature
, Hume: DA fails as it is an argument from a unique case - CORRECT ANSWERS -Hume
famously argues that it takes many instances (constant conjunction) of one event
following another to infer a causal relationship. The point is that you cannot infer
causation from a single instance.
The creation of the universe was a unique event - it only happened once. So, we cannot
assume a causal relationship between designer and creation based on this one
instance.
The Problem of Spatial Disorder - CORRECT ANSWERS -Large amounts of the
universe appear to show spatial disorder, they lack any regularity or any purpose that
we can explain. Cancer, earthquakes and short sightedness could be described as
design faults. If God is all powerful and all knowing why are there so many design
faults? Why is it generally painful for women to give birth? How can we explain
earthquakes? How can. we explain earthquakes? Does it mean that God is not all
good?
Swinburne: The Argument from Design - CORRECT ANSWERS -Swinburne's version
of the teleological argument distinguishes between:
Examples of order in nature (spatial order)
And the order of the laws of nature (temporal order)
Swinburne accepts that evolution, for example, can explain the necks of giraffes or the
human eye without a designer. These are examples of spatial order.
But, he argues, we can not explain the laws of nature (temporal order) without a
designer.
For example, the law of gravity is such that it allows galaxies to form, and planets to
form within these galaxies, and life to form on these planets. But if gravity had the
opposite effect - it repelled matter, say - then life would never be able to form.
The laws of nature haven't evolved, they just are.
Swinburne argues that, unlike examples within nature (spatial order), the laws of nature
(temporal order) cannot be explained without a designer.
Whether God is the best or only explanation - CORRECT ANSWERS -Both Hume and
Kant have argued that even if the teleological argument succeeded in proving the
existence of a designer, this designer would not necessarily be God (as defined in the
Concept of God section).
For example:
God's power is supposedly infinite (omnipotence), yet the universe is not infinite
Designers are not always creators. Designer and creator might be two separate people
(e.g. the guy who designs a car doesn't physically build it)
The design of the universe may be the result of many small improvements by many
people
Designers can die even if their creations live on. How do we know the designer is
eternal, as God is
Cosmological Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -Cosmological arguments start from
the observation that everything depends on something else for its existence. For
Latest Update 2024-2025
Empiricist objections to a priori arguments for existence (Hume) - CORRECT
ANSWERS -Anything we can conceive of as existent, he says, we can also conceive of
as non-existent.
1) A contradiction cannot be coherently conceived
2) 'God does not exist' can be coherently conceived.
3) Therefore 'God does not exist' is not a contradiction.
If 'God does not exist' is not a contradiction, then the ontological argument fails to prove
'God exists' is an analytic truth.
Kant's: Existence is not a Predicate - CORRECT ANSWERS -Adding the expression
"and it exists" does not add anything to the person/object. A bachelor is defined as an
unmarried man. The essential property to be a bachelor is to be unmarried. If I were to
add that bachelor's also exist, I would not be giving it a further property of bachelor's
because to be a bachelor means that you must already exist. We have treated the
existence of God as a property like being all powerful or all knowing. Yet God could not
be omniscient or omnipotent without existing. So by giving God a description at all, we
have assumed God's existence. Kant is therefore arguing that existence is a
precondition of properties; it is not a property.
Malcolm's Ontological Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -P1) God's existence is
impossible if the concept of God self contradictory.
P2) The concept of God is not self contradictory
C1) Therefore God's existence is not impossible
C2) Therefore God exists necessarily
The Teleological Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -Aims to show that certain features
of nature or the laws of nature suggest they were designed by a God.
Paley's Design Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -Paley draws an analogy between
man-made objects, such as a watch, and certain aspects of nature. If you found a watch
on a beach you wouldn't assume it just appeared like, say, a pebble.
The reason for this is that a watch is composed of many parts organised for a purpose.
This, Paley argues, is the hallmark of design. For something to be designed, it must
have had a designer.
This designer, Paley says, is God.
Hume's objection to the analogy - CORRECT ANSWERS -1) Man-made items (houses,
watches, phones, etc.) are very different from nature
2) We can observe man-made items being designed, but we have no such experience
of this in the case of nature
, Hume: DA fails as it is an argument from a unique case - CORRECT ANSWERS -Hume
famously argues that it takes many instances (constant conjunction) of one event
following another to infer a causal relationship. The point is that you cannot infer
causation from a single instance.
The creation of the universe was a unique event - it only happened once. So, we cannot
assume a causal relationship between designer and creation based on this one
instance.
The Problem of Spatial Disorder - CORRECT ANSWERS -Large amounts of the
universe appear to show spatial disorder, they lack any regularity or any purpose that
we can explain. Cancer, earthquakes and short sightedness could be described as
design faults. If God is all powerful and all knowing why are there so many design
faults? Why is it generally painful for women to give birth? How can we explain
earthquakes? How can. we explain earthquakes? Does it mean that God is not all
good?
Swinburne: The Argument from Design - CORRECT ANSWERS -Swinburne's version
of the teleological argument distinguishes between:
Examples of order in nature (spatial order)
And the order of the laws of nature (temporal order)
Swinburne accepts that evolution, for example, can explain the necks of giraffes or the
human eye without a designer. These are examples of spatial order.
But, he argues, we can not explain the laws of nature (temporal order) without a
designer.
For example, the law of gravity is such that it allows galaxies to form, and planets to
form within these galaxies, and life to form on these planets. But if gravity had the
opposite effect - it repelled matter, say - then life would never be able to form.
The laws of nature haven't evolved, they just are.
Swinburne argues that, unlike examples within nature (spatial order), the laws of nature
(temporal order) cannot be explained without a designer.
Whether God is the best or only explanation - CORRECT ANSWERS -Both Hume and
Kant have argued that even if the teleological argument succeeded in proving the
existence of a designer, this designer would not necessarily be God (as defined in the
Concept of God section).
For example:
God's power is supposedly infinite (omnipotence), yet the universe is not infinite
Designers are not always creators. Designer and creator might be two separate people
(e.g. the guy who designs a car doesn't physically build it)
The design of the universe may be the result of many small improvements by many
people
Designers can die even if their creations live on. How do we know the designer is
eternal, as God is
Cosmological Argument - CORRECT ANSWERS -Cosmological arguments start from
the observation that everything depends on something else for its existence. For
