Adamson’s Cru[de] Arguments for God – Part 1
I was bored one night a few weeks ago and did a Google search on “Does God exist”. One of the top hits that came back was for this webpage: http://www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html This webpage contains an article written by Marilyn Adamson, called “Is There a God?”, which according to the sub-title presents “six straightforward reasons to … Adamson’s Cru[de] Arguments for God – Part 1
Aquinas’ Argument for the Existence of God – Part 6
A key part of Aquinas’ argument for the existence of God in Summa Theologica is found in Question 14, Article 1: “Whether There Is Knowledge in God?”. In that article, Aquinas argues for the conclusion that “In God there exists the most perfect knowledge.” The word “God” here is a misleading translation, and I take … Aquinas’ Argument for the Existence of God – Part 6
Aquinas’ Argument for the Existence of God – Part 5
In order to prove that God exists, Aquinas must prove that there exists a being that has ALL of the following divine attributes: I don’t believe that Aquinas actually proves that there is a being with even just ONE of these key divine attributes, so I certainly don’t believe that Aquinas proves that there is a being that possesses … Aquinas’ Argument for the Existence of God – Part 5
Aquinas’ Argument for the Existence of God – Part 4
NOTE: I began to reconstruct Aquinas’ argument for the existence of God in the post I Don’t Care – Part 4, and continued that effort in I Don’t Care – Part 5, and I Don’t Care – Part 6. I am changing the title of this series to better reflect the content, so I … Aquinas’ Argument for the Existence of God – Part 4
I Don’t Care – Part 6
Aquinas is often thought of as a rigourously logical and systematic thinker. This is only half-true. There is a good deal of vaguness, ambiguity, and illogical thinking in his book Summa Theologica, as far as I can see. Here is a cautionary note from a philosopher who is an expert on Aquinas: From the concept of … I Don’t Care – Part 6
I Don’t Care – Part 5
The famous Five Ways passage by Aquinas in Summa Theologica does not contain five arguments for the existence of God. Rather, it contains ZERO arguments for the existence of God. There is actually only one argument for the existence of God in the Summa Theologica, and the reasoning in the Five Ways passage only represents a … I Don’t Care – Part 5
I Don’t Care – Part 3
According to the Christian philosopher Peter Kreeft, and many others, Aquinas gives five different arguments for the existence of God. In the Handbook of Christian Apologetics (IVP, 1994; hereafter: HCA) by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli, there is a chapter that lays out twenty different arguments for the existence of God, and the first five arguments … I Don’t Care – Part 3
I Don’t Care – Part 2
OK. Maybe I care just a little bit. I summarized my complaint against Aquinas’ Five Ways this way (in response to a comment from Jeff Lowder): I’m just pointing out that (a) NONE of the Five Ways is an argument for the existence of God as it stands (in the section called “Whether God Exists?”), … I Don’t Care – Part 2
Why I am Not Concerned about Christian Theist Philosophers of Religion
One reason I am not concerned about the prevalence of Christian theists in the field of philosophy of religion is that they do a nice job of arguing against each other. William Lane Craig’s favorite argument for the existence of God is the Kalam cosmological argument. I’m happy that there are some atheist philosophers who … Why I am Not Concerned about Christian Theist Philosophers of Religion
Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 11
If I understand William Craig’s third objection to AMR, then he is basically offering an inductive teleological argument for the existence of God (similar to how Richard Swinburne argues for God) based on the assumption that there are objective moral values plus the claim that humans and the circumstances in which humans find themselves are … Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 11