AQA A-Level Philosophy - metaphysics
of God Mocks
Exam Questions and Answers
What is natural theology - Answer>> a philosophical
investigation which explores the possibility of God through reason
and observation alone
immutable - Answer>> unchanging
What was Aquinas' attempted definition of God's omnipotence -
Answer>> God can do anything but what is logically impossible
so he cannot: change/change the past/interfere with free
will/change the laws of math/make something exist and not exist
at the same time
What is Aquinas' revised definition of God as omnipotence -
Answer>> God can do anything but what is logically impossible
and doesn't undermine his perfections
Why can God not sin - Answer>> To sin is to fall short of doing
a perfect action and God has all perfections so he cannot sin, but
this doesn't limit his omnipotence as to sin would be to
underachieve
What is God if he is everlasting - Answer>> moving through
time with us
What is the argument for God as timeless - Answer>> Aquinas'
classic account of God's eternity is that God is atemporal
atemporal - Answer>> outside of time
,temporal - Answer>> in time
sempiternal - Answer>> in time but without a beginning or end
What is the argument for God as everlasting - Answer>> God is
sempiternal as this makes God able to have a personal
relationship with his creation
According to Stump and Kretzmann what four qualities did
Boethius say a timeless God would possess - Answer>> it has
life/it is illimitable/it has unlimited duration/it is simultaneous
What is the Paradox of Stone - Answer>> Is God powerful
enough to create a stone he cannot lift? If yes he is not
omnipotent as he cannot lift the stone; if no he is not omnipotent
as he cannot create the stone
What is the Euthyphro dilemma? - Answer>> Is something good
because God wills it or does he will it because it's good?
According to Aquinas, what is God? - Answer>> a being
'greater than which cannot be conceived'
What is Anselm's Ontological argument - Answer>> God is the
greatest possible being/Even a fool can understand that God is
the greatest possible being/The fool says there is no God in
reality (from Psalms 14:1)/The fool is convinced that God, the
greatest possible being, exists only in his understanding and not
in reality/it is greater to exist both in the understanding and the
reality, rather than solely the understanding/The greatest possible
being, if it genuinely is the greatest, must exist both in the
understanding and in reality/therefore God exists in both reality
, and understanding. Moreover, the fool really is a fool, as he is
denying the existence of the greatest possible being, that is a
being which must exist if it is genuinely the greatest
What was Guanilo's first objection to Aquinas' ontological
argument - Answer>> How great is the greatest possible being?
- not great at all if it doesn't exist/we are only thinking of how great
this being would be if it existed, but this doesn't show that it does
exist
What was Guanilo's second objection to Aquinas' ontological
argument - Answer>> You could prove anything perfect must
exist by this argument/You could conceive of the perfect island,
greater than which we cannot conceive - so this island must exist
otherwise it would be less great/But this is ridiculous, so the
ontological argument must be flawed
What is Anselm's reply to Guanilo's objection - Answer>> The
thought that the greatest conceivable being doesn't exist is
incoherent, but the island is coherent - there is nothing in the
concept of such an island that makes it essentially or necessarily
the greatest conceivable being. An island is contingent but God is
necessary
What is Norman Malcom's ontological argument - Answer>>
God cannot come into existence/so if God doesn't exist then his
existence is logically impossible/if God does exist then his
existence logically necessary/either God's existence is not
logically impossible or it is logically necessary/God's existence is
not logically impossible as the concept of God existing is not self-
contradictory/Therefore God's existence is logically
necessary/Therefore God exists
of God Mocks
Exam Questions and Answers
What is natural theology - Answer>> a philosophical
investigation which explores the possibility of God through reason
and observation alone
immutable - Answer>> unchanging
What was Aquinas' attempted definition of God's omnipotence -
Answer>> God can do anything but what is logically impossible
so he cannot: change/change the past/interfere with free
will/change the laws of math/make something exist and not exist
at the same time
What is Aquinas' revised definition of God as omnipotence -
Answer>> God can do anything but what is logically impossible
and doesn't undermine his perfections
Why can God not sin - Answer>> To sin is to fall short of doing
a perfect action and God has all perfections so he cannot sin, but
this doesn't limit his omnipotence as to sin would be to
underachieve
What is God if he is everlasting - Answer>> moving through
time with us
What is the argument for God as timeless - Answer>> Aquinas'
classic account of God's eternity is that God is atemporal
atemporal - Answer>> outside of time
,temporal - Answer>> in time
sempiternal - Answer>> in time but without a beginning or end
What is the argument for God as everlasting - Answer>> God is
sempiternal as this makes God able to have a personal
relationship with his creation
According to Stump and Kretzmann what four qualities did
Boethius say a timeless God would possess - Answer>> it has
life/it is illimitable/it has unlimited duration/it is simultaneous
What is the Paradox of Stone - Answer>> Is God powerful
enough to create a stone he cannot lift? If yes he is not
omnipotent as he cannot lift the stone; if no he is not omnipotent
as he cannot create the stone
What is the Euthyphro dilemma? - Answer>> Is something good
because God wills it or does he will it because it's good?
According to Aquinas, what is God? - Answer>> a being
'greater than which cannot be conceived'
What is Anselm's Ontological argument - Answer>> God is the
greatest possible being/Even a fool can understand that God is
the greatest possible being/The fool says there is no God in
reality (from Psalms 14:1)/The fool is convinced that God, the
greatest possible being, exists only in his understanding and not
in reality/it is greater to exist both in the understanding and the
reality, rather than solely the understanding/The greatest possible
being, if it genuinely is the greatest, must exist both in the
understanding and in reality/therefore God exists in both reality
, and understanding. Moreover, the fool really is a fool, as he is
denying the existence of the greatest possible being, that is a
being which must exist if it is genuinely the greatest
What was Guanilo's first objection to Aquinas' ontological
argument - Answer>> How great is the greatest possible being?
- not great at all if it doesn't exist/we are only thinking of how great
this being would be if it existed, but this doesn't show that it does
exist
What was Guanilo's second objection to Aquinas' ontological
argument - Answer>> You could prove anything perfect must
exist by this argument/You could conceive of the perfect island,
greater than which we cannot conceive - so this island must exist
otherwise it would be less great/But this is ridiculous, so the
ontological argument must be flawed
What is Anselm's reply to Guanilo's objection - Answer>> The
thought that the greatest conceivable being doesn't exist is
incoherent, but the island is coherent - there is nothing in the
concept of such an island that makes it essentially or necessarily
the greatest conceivable being. An island is contingent but God is
necessary
What is Norman Malcom's ontological argument - Answer>>
God cannot come into existence/so if God doesn't exist then his
existence is logically impossible/if God does exist then his
existence logically necessary/either God's existence is not
logically impossible or it is logically necessary/God's existence is
not logically impossible as the concept of God existing is not self-
contradictory/Therefore God's existence is logically
necessary/Therefore God exists
