Philosophers

Philosophers with their key quotes and arguments.

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  • Created by: shireenMB
  • Created on: 02-04-19 11:02
Al Kindi
The kalam cosmological argument is an argument from the existence of the world or universe to the existence of God. What distinguishes the kalam cosmological argument from other forms of cosmological argument is that it rests on the idea that the uni
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Al Ghazali
The kalam cosmological argument is an argument from the existence of the world or universe to the existence of God. What distinguishes the kalam cosmological argument from other forms of cosmological argument is that it rests on the idea that the uni
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St Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas offered five ways to prove the existence of God, of which the first three are forms of the cosmological argument - arguments from motion, cause and contingency.
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St Thomas Aquinas
“…it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.”
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William Lane Craig
Developed the cosmological/kalam argument. Through discussion of actual and possible infinite and his reference to a ‘personal’ creator God.
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William Lane Craig
“I think that it can be plausibly argued that the cause of the universe must be a personal Creator. For how else could a temporal effect arise from an eternal cause?”
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St Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas teleological argument can be found in the fifth of his ‘Five Ways’in the Summa Theologica. Here Aquinas states that something that lacks intelligence cannot move towards fulfilling a useful end, unless something with intelligence has moved it
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St Thomas Aquinas
“…as the arrow is directed by the archer. Therefore, some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.”
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David Hume
“The dissimilitude is so striking that the utmost you can here pretend to, is a guess, a conjecture, a presumption concerning a similar cause…”
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William Paley
Paley is credited with proposing the design argument in his work Natural Theology, using the analogy of the watchmaker.
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William Paley
“The marks of design are too strong. Design must have had a designer. That designer must have been a person. That person must be God.”
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Charles Darwin
In his Origin of Species, Darwin noted that it was random chance that organises life in the universe, according to the principles of evolution and natural selection
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Charles Darwin
“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.”
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F.R Tennant
Developed a set of evidences that are widely recognised as anthropic principles. He is also attributed to the aesthetic argument.
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F.R Tennant
“The aesthetic argument for theism becomes more persuasive when it renounces all claims to proof and appeals to a logical probability.”
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Gaunilo of Marmoutiers
He is best known for his contemporary criticism (On Behalf of the Fool) of the ontological argument for the existence of God which appeared in St Anselm's Proslogion. His argument is if the ontological argument for the existence of God is sound, then
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St Anslem
Anselm is credited with the invention of the ontological argument for God’s existence, which he set out in his Proslogium (“Discourse”). His argument is that the very definition of God, proves his existence
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St Anslem
“…a being than which nothing greater can be conceived.”
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Rene Descartes
For Descartes, in his form of the ontological argument, the definition of God was that god is the most perfect being; a being that possessed all perfections and one of these perfections is existence.
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Rene Descartes
“I clearly see that existence can no more be separated from the essence of God than can its having three angles equal to two right angles can be separated from the essence of [rectilinear] triangle”
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Immanuel Kant
Kant opposed Descartes ontological argument by arguing that existence cannot be described as a perfection. Existence can be a thing that an object possesses or lacks but it does not describe anything about the nature of an object.
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Immanuel Kant
“The sum total of all possible knowledge of God is not possible for a human being, not even through a true revelation. But it is one of the worthiest inquiries to see how far our reason can go in the knowledge of God.”
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Norman Malcom
Malcom developed the ontological arguments by Anselm and Descartes, by the idea that God should be described as an unlimited being as opposed to Anselm’s idea of God as the greatest being.
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Norman Malcom
“What Anselm did was to give a demonstration that the proposition ‘God necessarily exists’ is entailed by the proposition’ God is a being greater than which cannot be conceived’ (which is equivalent to ‘God is an absolutely unlimited being’)”
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Epicurus
Epicurus is attributed with outlining the logical problem of evil and suffering in Ancient Greek times. If the universe was created out of nothing, deliberately, by an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent God then why is there evil?
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Epicurus
“Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. I he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the
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Irenaeus
Unlike Augustine, Irenaeus argued that evil and suffering was not due to mankind but was a deliberate action of an omnibenevolent God who wanted his creations to become spiritually perfect
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Iranaeus
“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.’” Genesis 1:26 “And the harder we strive, so much is it the more valuable; while so much the more valuable it is, so much the more should we esteem.”
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Augustine
According to Augustine, God’s creation was originally free from evil, but it was our free will that brings about evil. Evil is not something which God creates, rather it is a lack of good
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Augustine
“Just in the same way, what are called vices in the soul are nothing but privations of natural good.”
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J.L Mackie
In J. L. Mackie’s modern development of the problem of evil, he formulated it into what is known as the ‘inconsistent triad’. God cannot exist as it is logically inconsistent to state that God is omnipotent and benevolent when there is evil in the wo
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J.L Mackie
“…the Paradox of Omnipotence has shown that God’s omnipotence must in any case be restricted in one way or another, that unqualified omnipotence cannot be ascribed to any being that continues through time”
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William Rowe
Argued that whilst it seemed reasonable for God to allow some limited suffering to enable humans to grow and develop, he could not accept God allowing ‘intense suffering’. Rowe’s approach is often called the evidential approach to the problem of evil
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William Rowe
“The argument is valid; therefore, if we have rational grounds for accepting its premises, to that extent we have rational grounds for accepting atheism.”
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Gregory S Paul
Sometimes referred to as the statistical problem of evil, Paul argues that the death of so many innocent children challenges the existence of God. He estimates that since God first spoke to man, that over 50 billion children have died naturally and s
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Gregory S Paul
“The modern Christian consensus followed by billions is so firmly overturned by human circumstances that it very probably is not possible to reconcile the Christian concept of a pacific creator with the state of the universe.”
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Teresa of Avila
Teresa’s approach to mystical experience was through her four stages of prayer. She believed that true union with God could only be achieved by intense concentration and disciplining oneself through a life of prayer, that would through stages, allow
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Teresa of Avila
“…We should desire and engage in prayer, not for our enjoyment, but for the sake of acquiring the strength which fits us for service.”
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William James
In his book ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience: a study in human nature’ James aimed to survey the various types of religious experience as a psychologist and to present the findings of this survey and its implications for philosophy. He used a v
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William James
“One may say truly, I think, that personal religious experience has its root and centre in mystical states of consciousness. Mystical states indeed wield no authority…but point in directions the religious sentiments even of non-mystical men incline.”
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Rudolph Otto
Otto’s approach was to look at the aspects of religious experience that were beyond the scope of rational and empirical reasoning. Instead the focus was on the ‘feelings’ of the recipients – the first time such an approach was attempted.
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Rudolph Otto
“Holiness – ‘the holy’-is a category of interpretation and valuation peculiar to the sphere of religion…while it is complex, it contains a quite specific element or ‘moment’, which sets it apart from ‘The Rational’…and which remains inexpressible.”
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Caroline Frank Davies
Caroline Franks Davis challenged in three distinct ways the validity of religious experiences; Description-related Subject-related Object-related
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Caroline Frank Davies
Religious experiences “are challenged on all sides, by philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, members of other religious traditions and even by members of their own traditions with a widely differing views.”
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The kalam cosmological argument is an argument from the existence of the world or universe to the existence of God. What distinguishes the kalam cosmological argument from other forms of cosmological argument is that it rests on the idea that the uni

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Al Ghazali

Card 3

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Aquinas offered five ways to prove the existence of God, of which the first three are forms of the cosmological argument - arguments from motion, cause and contingency.

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Card 4

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“…it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.”

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

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Developed the cosmological/kalam argument. Through discussion of actual and possible infinite and his reference to a ‘personal’ creator God.

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