A Meaning for Existence Chapter 8

Theism Greek word theos means god Theism is the study of god and gods Theists believe in a supreme being worthy of worship and is presently active in the world

Deism From the Latin deus for god Deists believe that the divine being that has created the universe is not presently active in the universe Having to intervene would imply an imperfection in the creation

Polytheism Polytheism is the belief in many gods who may have differing roles

Monotheism Monotheists believe in one supreme, perfect and all-powerful maker

Pantheism Pantheism is the belief that a supreme being is part of everything in the universe God is the sum total of what there is This divinity is not a personal supreme being or with human characteristics

Panentheism Spinoza was a panentheist Believed that everything that existed from space and time was a part of God Was not a being with human characteristics or a type of person So, one cannot think of God in human properties as this would distort God’s reality Believed that God was not separate from nature or the creation Could not see how an immaterial, not temporal being could interact with the material temporal world Two things with such different properties could not possibly influence each other Also, thought that is nature was separate from God it would limit God’s infinity If God was infinite, than nothing can limit Him and nothing can be outside of God or have a separate existence from Him

The Existence of a Supreme Being The Ontological Argument A reasoned argument that begins with a definition First developed by Anslem of Canterbury (1033-1109) Proposed the definition of God as a perfect being If God is perfect he is: all powerful all knowing self-causing has all other perfections

The Existence of a Supreme Being (con’t) Of the perfections is the perfection of existence If God doesn’t exist, then he would be less than perfect because he didn’t have the quality of existence This would contradict the definition of God as supremely perfect, so he must exist Critics say this definition just states that we have a concept of God within the mind Anslem argues that God exists as a concept within the mind and outside of it As soon as you conceive it, it exists

The Existence of a Supreme Being (con’t) The Cosmological Argument Begins with notion that it is impossible for any natural thing in the world to be the sole source for its own existence Everything comes from something Eventually, you would come to an ultimate beginning Cosmologists say this beginning point is the supreme being

The Existence of a Supreme Being (con’t) Critics argue that even if this were valid, it doesn’t prove the existence of a supreme being this beginning doesn’t necessarily have to be a supreme being E.g.: the Big Bang But, was the Big Bang caused by something or did it cause itself? Did it come from something or nothing?

The Existence of a Supreme Being (con’t) The Argument from Design The orderliness of the universe suggests that an all powerful agent is responsible for creating this order The argument from design/teleological argument (end purpose) Order of the universe could not have come from nowhere or from nothing, nor could it have emerged spontaneously

The Existence of a Supreme Being (con’t) Critics say that if cosmic order does exist, it does not necessarily follow that this order was created by a supreme being Others say that the order that is assumed by this argument does not exist in the first place David Hume rejected the comparison between nature and machines You cannot compare machines and nature because there are too many differences To say that nature is the product of a being it is anthropocentric

The Existence of a Supreme Being (con’t) Pascal’s Wager View the existence of God as a bet: the existence of God vs. the absence of God Four outcomes: 1) believe and God exists you win big: eternal life (Christian terms) 2) don’t believe and God does exist you lose big: eternal damnation 3) you believe and God does not exist losses are minimal: some selfish pleasures and vice 4) don’t believe and God does not exist insignificant gain: some selfish pleasure and being right It’s better off living as if there is a God

Atheism Atheists reject the idea of the existence of an omniscient and omnipotent supreme being The world is full of evil and suffering and it is inconceivable for a supremely perfect and benevolent being could create such an imperfect world And if humans were really created in the image of loving divinity, it is inconceivable that they could be so cruel to each other Theists say that evil is a product of free will, and humans rejection of God Others say that the perception of evil is relative To humans evil appears real, but this is part of a divine plan

Atheism (con’t) Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz proposes the analogy of looking at a massive painting to explain the theists perspective If you are standing close to the painting you will not be able to understand what it means and it will appear chaotic and a mess This is our view of the universe, we have a limited perspective Critics of this argument say that this is inadequate because any state of affairs in the universe is compatible with it Universe could be a thousand times worse, or a billion

Atheism (con’t) Some atheists say that the concept of God is a soothing fiction that fulfills a deep seated need for security, order and meaning in an incomprehensible and hostile world Sigmund Freud said God is an invention that satisfies a deep-seated, human emotional craving for authority The neurobiological perspective argues that religious experiences can be attributed to changes in activity in certain parts of the brain Some atheists argue that science can answer most of the questions of nature and therefore there is no need to propose a God