God
A Posteriori Arguments
The Cosmological Argument
Aristotle: God is the prime mover of the
universe
Aquinas: God is the first cause
Aquinas’s Argument
“The second way is based on the
nature of causation. In the observable
world, causes are to be found ordered
in series; we never observe, or even
could observe, something causing
itself, for this would mean it preceded
itself, and this is impossible.”
Aquinas’s Argument
“Such a series of causes, however, must stop
somewhere. For in all series of causes, an earlier
member causes an intermediate, and the
intermediate a last (whether the intermediate be
one or many). If you eliminate a cause you also
eliminate its effects. Therefore there can be neither
a last nor an intermediate cause unless there is a
first. But if the series of causes goes on to infinity,
and there is no first cause, there would be neither
intermediate causes nor a final effect, which is
patently false.”
Aquinas’s Argument
“It is therefore necessary to posit
a first cause, which all call 'God'.”
Aquinas’s Argument
Let a be the current state of the world
It was caused, as was its cause, etc.
. . . <— e <— d <— c <— b <— a
This can’t go on to infinity, or we’d
never have reached a
So, there must be a first cause, God
God <— . . . <— c <— b <— a
Leibniz (1646-1716)
Principle of Sufficient
Reason: “Nothing happens
without a sufficient reason.”
So the universe— the series of
contingent causes— must have
a sufficient reason for its
existence:
Something which is its own
sufficient reason for existing:
God
Leibniz’s Argument
The world of efficient
causes:
. . . <— c <— b <— a
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G1
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G2
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God
Aquinas’s Design Argument
All bodies obey natural laws.
All bodies obeying natural
laws act toward an end.
Therefore, all bodies act
toward an end. (Including
those that lack awareness.)
Aquinas’s Design Argument
Things lacking awareness act
toward a goal only under the
direction of someone aware
and intelligent.
Therefore, all things lacking
awareness act under the
direction of someone aware
and intelligent: God.
Aquinas’s Design Argument
All things lacking awareness
act under the direction of
someone aware and
intelligent.
The universe as a whole lacks
awareness.
Therefore, the universe as a
whole acts under the direction
of someone aware and
intelligent- namely, God.
William Paley (1743-1805)
Suppose you find a watch
Intricate
Successful
You’d infer that it had an
intelligent maker
Similarly, you find the universe
Intricate
Successful
You should infer it had an
intelligent maker, God
Hume’s Criticisms
Analogy isn’t strong
Universe may be self-
organizing
Why machine, rather
than animal or
vegetable?
Hume’s Criticisms
Taking analogy seriously:
God not infinite
God not perfect
Difficulties in nature
Can’t compare to other
universes
Maybe earlier, botched
universes
Maybe made by
committee
Hume’s Skepticism
Variability: Many
hypotheses are possible
Undecidability: We have
no evidence that would
let us select the most
probable
So, we cannot establish
God’s existence
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Does God exist?
Place your bet
Total uncertainty—
no data
What should you
do?
Pascal’s Wager
“Let us weigh the gain and the
loss in wagering that God is. Let
us estimate these two chances. If
you gain, you gain all; if you lose,
you lose nothing. Wager, then,
without hesitation that He is.”
Pascal’s Wager
You believe You don’t believe
God Heaven Hell
No God Virtue Nothing
A bet on God can’t lose; a bet against God
can’t win
Kant’s Moral Argument
We can’t prove God’s
existence rationally
But we can’t live and
act except by
assuming that God
exists
Kant’s Moral Argument
Bad things happen to
good people; the
wicked prosper
Why, then, be good?
Kant’s Moral Argument
It’s rational to be
moral only if it’s
rewarded
That doesn’t happen
in this life
It must happen in
another life
So, there must be an
afterlife, and a just
God
The Problem of Evil
If God exists, He is all good, all
knowing, and all powerful
If He is all good, He is willing to
prevent evil
If He is all knowing, He knows
how to prevent it
If He is all powerful, He can
prevent it
But evil exists
So, God does not exist
Augustine: Part of the Plan
We must judge universe
as a whole, not part by
part
Analogy: the best life is
not one with no
adversity, but with
adversity overcome
It is good that there is
some evil
Augustine: General Providence
General providence of
God: system of natural
law underlies everything
good
But that system also
produces evils
The good far outweighs
the evil
Augustine: Evil as privation
Plotinus (204-270): Evil is not
a thing; it is the absence of
good
God didn’t create evil; he
simply created things with
differing degrees of goodness
But that variety is itself good
Whatever is, is good
Augustine: Corruptibility
Only God is perfect
To create, God had to
create things that were
imperfect, corruptible
Humans in particular are
corruptible
We have the freedom to
choose evil
Augustine: Free Will
Free will can’t explain natural
evils
Punishment for original sin?
Who gave us the capacity and
sometime inclination to do
wrong? God
In the end, the problem is
insoluble
We cannot understand God
Possible Solutions
God
Form
Origen
Building
Man
Matter
Philo
Plato Gnostics
Mani Avicenna Plotinus
Augustine Evil
Hinduism
