Existence of God
The existence of God is one of the central questions of the philosophy of religion, alongside faith, religious experience and life after death.[1] People have long argued about whether God exists, and also about a deeper question: whether human reason is able to settle the matter at all.[2]
Broadly, some thinkers believe reason can show that God exists, others believe reason can show that God does not, and others hold that the question goes beyond what reason can decide, so that belief rests on faith or revelation instead.[2]
Arguments for God
Aquinas's Five Ways
The best-known set of arguments comes from the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, who offered "Five Ways" of reasoning towards God:[2]
- Motion: things in the world are moved, which points to a first, Unmoved Mover.
- Causation: chains of causes point to an Uncaused Cause.
- Contingency: things that might not have existed depend on something that exists necessarily.
- Degrees of goodness: grades of goodness point to a perfect being.
- Purpose: the order and purposiveness of nature point to a cosmic designer.
For Aquinas, faith and reason do not compete but complement one another.[2]
Other classic arguments
Duncan Pritchard describes the classic attempts to give evidence for God that any rational person should accept. They include the ontological argument, which reasons from the very idea or nature of God; an argument from a first cause; and the design argument, which he regards as weaker.[3] Some modern theists also appeal to "fine-tuning".[4]
Criticisms
According to Pritchard, few philosophers today think the traditional "proofs" succeed.[3] Anthony Kenny, a former priest who became agnostic, judged that Aquinas's Five Ways were flawed, relying on outdated Aristotelian ideas about the cosmos and on logical mistakes. Kenny concluded that the God of medieval scholastic philosophy does not exist, but he left room for God understood in other ways.[2]
Arguments against God's existence include the problem of evil and the argument from divine hiddenness, which asks why a loving God would allow sincere people to be unable to believe.[5][6]
Beyond proof
Not everyone thinks religious belief needs proofs. Fideism holds that belief in God is a matter of faith rather than evidence. Reformed epistemology, associated with Alvin Plantinga, argues that belief in God can be rational without arguments, just as ordinary beliefs based on perception are. These views are discussed in Epistemic responsibility.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ "Philosophy of Religion". Philosophy of Religion A-Z. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. pp. 159–160.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Arguments for the Existence of God". Philosophy of Religion A-Z. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. pp. 14–16.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Pritchard, Duncan; Harris, Mark (2017). "Is there a fundamental tension between faith and rationality?". Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone. Routledge.
- ↑ Draper, Paul, ed. (2019). "Alternatives to Benevolent Theism (Tim Mulgan)". Current Controversies in Philosophy of Religion. Routledge.
- ↑ "Evil". Philosophy of Religion A-Z. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. p. 74.
- ↑ Pritchard, Duncan; Harris, Mark (2017). "Chapter 6 (Ian M. Church)". Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone. Routledge.