... or small things like the boiling point of water being just right to sustain natural systems. One of the major champions of the view that only God could create a universe of this complexity is William Paley. Though Paley presented this argument in 1975, Plato was the first to introduce it. The first ... have no other universe to look to and say "look it is imperfect and so much more poorly designed, ours must have been created by God". For all we know this universe is the worst, most imperfect ramshackle in all existence. Secondly as David Hume put it in Dialogues Concerning Natural ... E...

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• Grade Level: High School

... a tree or a speech by the president, are different modes of the attribute of thought or extension. A mode is the particular manner which substance, God, or nature assumes. A tree is a mode of extension, and a speech by the president is the mode of thought. But both are basically attributes, ... for Spinoza, imagine an infinitely long list of qualities. Each attribute on this list can be assigned to only one substance or thing. However, God has already been assigned all attributes on the list, and no attributes are left to assign to other substances. Since a substance can't exist if ... ...

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... the larger picture, the demand for knowledge." There are many questions in philosophy, many involving the subject of religion. Does God exist? Should we believe in God? Is belief in God justified? These are just some of the questions attempted to be answered in philosophy. Every philosopher has a different opinion ... was a being that nothing greater could be conceived to exist, that it cannot even be conceived not to exist; then this being has to be God. Therefore, God must exist. St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) belonged as a member to the Dominican Order as a university lecturer. He wrot...

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... has become the source of much doubt and controversy. What was once certain and surely unquestionable has become the most questioned. The existence of a God has been the topic of fierce debate. This most usually occurring between members of the religious society and, everybody else. As a matter of ... him that which nothing greater can be conceived of, and which cannot be conceived not to exist which we have already defined as God. The second argument for a God comes from St. Tomas Aquinas, who argues for the cosmological point of view. The cosmological argument states that all things in ...

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... the larger picture, the demand for knowledge." There are many questions in philosophy, many involving the subject of religion. Does God exist? Should we believe in God? Is belief in God justified? These are just some of the questions attempted to be answered in philosophy. Every philosopher has a different opinion ... was a being that nothing greater could be conceived to exist, that it cannot even be conceived not to exist; then this being has to be God. Therefore, God must exist. St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) belonged as a member to the Dominican Order as a university lecturer. He wrot...

• Word Count: 587
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• Grade Level: High School

... things outside of one's self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper, he closes in to the fact that his idea of ... perfect being lets go into more detail on the process he uses to prove that such being actually exists. Descartes' proof of the existence of God occurs in the Third Meditation. He builds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous meditation that in order for him to think, he ... intelligent, supremely powerful, an...

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... not exist. This is probably the simplest answer to the question, because why would God allow something like this to proceed, if he existed? Also the God we think might not be the real God that exists. Others believed that God had turned his back on humanity (he does not care) and if that ... permitted) the destruction of the Jews, the Gypsies and the other victims. The vengeful God Berkovitz responds by saying that man is to bear the burden of Auschwitz not God. According to Berkowitz, God is not completely exonerated from this, because God "shackles his might so that history may be poss...

• Word Count: 291
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... greater for a thing to exist in reality than for it to exist in the understanding solely. We are almost forced to conclude that this God, which nothing greater can be imagined, can be conceived to be greater than it is. That does not make sense, so we go back to ... coffee mug exists the image in your mind does not change. This is why, Kant says, existence cannot be a property. When we say, "God exists." We are using "God" as the subject of the sentence, and "exists" as the property of the sentence. According to Kant one would have to say, "The universe ... argument, his third premise s...

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... 's presence. But where did it come from? When was it created and who created it? Since God created the world and everything in it, God must have also created Evil. But, why would God do that? Why would this God who loves us unlimitedly and unconditionally who to share with us his kingdom and eternal life create Evil. ... And place us to live on earth with it? Was it a test? Is God playing with us and testing out faith and loyalty? Since it is not an entity, no one created it and thus it has no creator. But where ... does this presence we feel come from? Well, we create it! We created ev...

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... we can conceive does not exist than we can still conceive the greatest thing that does exist, and that would be God. Descartes views God in a similar way to St. Anselm. Descartes sees God as the perfect being while St. Anselm describes God as "that than which nothing greater can be thought." In Descartes "the Argument from Perfection" he reasons that if existence is ... one of the perfections and God has all the perfections, then God must exist. Along with these arguments others in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic communities have similar views. Cosmological arguments are a posteriori...

• Word Count: 360
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... version of the cogito, or his nature, only to find their selves confused and not fully satisfied when it comes to his proof of the existence of God in Meditation III. Two factors cause this sudden change in the view of Descartes" argument; one is that the proof is more complicated than in the ... and after breaking down thought, innate and adventitious ideas, Descartes simply says that the idea of this God is innate and born within him and that the fact that God is existing in his mind, God must be perfect. God was merely an innate idea that had to be true because this idea of a perfect ...

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... it must be looked at from other angles. One famous account is by Thomas Aquinas. He stated that there are five ways to prove the existence of God. They are motion, efficient cause, possibility and necessity, gradation, and governance of the world. The first, motion, asserts that anything moved had to have ... there must be a first mover who sets everything in motion, and what is moved has a purpose and a reason. This first mover must be God who is directing everything towards their potentiality. Efficient cause, in the world of sensible things, says that there must always be something th...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... been questioned by people since he has been conceived. Many ideas have been proclaimed to prove gods existence but many have been ludicrous. Descartes logic on god's existence has been one of the most read about works by philosophers and I feel to be the most accurate works on gods existence. Descartes tries to prove gods existence in ... looking for a foundation on which he can base all beliefs and know that those beliefs are true. His third mediation proves the existence of god and the external world, although he does not come right out and say god exists he makes several point to sa...

• Word Count: 451
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... really hasn't produced any truth as of yet. Each of the Philosophers we have discussed in class shine just a bit of light on the subject of God, but they seem to just bring enough to the table to make their argument and then excuse themselves, leaving me with a half empty plate. First I"d ... If he did not exist, then he would not be perfect...Assuredly that, than which nothing greater can be conceived cannot exist in understanding alone." Saint Anselm's God is perfect in nature and being. As we discussed in class, we can conceive of a perfect island in our minds but that does not will i...

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... situations. In my paper I will discuss Rene Descartes beliefs, specifically talking about his first principle, dealing with what he thinks. Along with discussing the proof of God's existence which he talks about in the reading. We live in a world where we as individuals, naturally questions things that happen, and go on within our ... taught everything you need to know, in regards to how to live a good/right life, what religion to believe in, and even being taught that God may or may not exist. Philosopher Rene Descartes had questions about the things we experience in our everyday life, ...

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... I will look into the reasons to justify my answer to the questions posed above. Who or what is GOD. God is whom you would call the supreme creator, the all mighty. The concept of there being a GOD is something that the Western world (Western World as in the modern Science and Technology) has been trying to ... through. For them all the things have to be logical, thus to have the universe emerge from absolutely nothing is totally illogical, thus the idea of have a GOD is out of the question. To me the idea of having a supreme creator is crystal clear, however that isn't the case with most ...

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... us with hope. This hope fosters a greater faith and eventually more hope. However, this is only an ideal; a belief that we can be divine. In God we trust. We trust that there is purpose to our lives and that, although it cannot be achieved by earthly means, there is a utopia awaiting our arrival ... this because without it, there would lie a void of hopelesness in our lives. We need something, anything, to believe in. God is a belief like any other. We look to God to find ourselves because humanity is not quite what we think it should be. Humanity is flawed. We don't always know what ....

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... who feel love, joy, anger, grief and fulfilment couldn't possibly have been brought into existence without the divine imagination and fantastic complexity of God. God not only provides the best explanation for why the universe exists he also provides the pre-eminently paramount rationalization for the complex order within that ... Robert Jastrow, the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He called it, " the most powerful evidence for the existence of God, ever to come out of science" Scientists have taken thousands of years to prove a simple fact, which the Bible had clearly...

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... because if it had not, I would still be lost and confused, seeking for this happiness and never finding it. That was a big lesson for me to of God's existing. Here is one more proof. We know so it is wrong to kill and everybody can consent with it, inside we just know it. And we are ... in their life. Men seem to do whatever they want, make their plans established, change the people's minds, and everything seems to be just fine, but if God is real, then we abide by His rule, and anything besides that is just the same as atheism and evolution. Go back in my childhood I was thinking why ...

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... and lay questions about the origin of life to rest. A look at the intelligent design principle and the nature of the human mind indicate that it is possible to prove God's existence. Arguments based on design involve a strong premise that the existence of any design suggests the presence of its designer. Kreeft (2013) explores the intelligent design principle, noting that there ... order, it is illogical to attribute such design to highly improbable chance while explaining mysterious objects on Earth such as the Stonehenge as designs from past human civilizations. Proof of God's existen...

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St. Augustine: The City of God According to St. Augustine, there have been many people and events that have helped in the establishment of philosophy and natural theology. He mentions many ... second, natural philosophy, which is connected to contemplation and third, rational philosophy, which distinguishes from truth and error. (p.117) Through Plato his followers have deciphered three truths about God: in Him is found the cause of all being, the reason of all thinking, the rule of all living. (p.117) St. Augustine felt that the Platonic philosophers were ... most accurate in their depiction ...

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Throughout Descartes Meditations he examines many things. I have chosen to discuss Descartes argument for the esistence of God which appears in Meditation Three: Concerning God, That he Exists. Descartes biulds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous meditation that in order for him to think, he must exist. From this single observation, Descartes ... ...

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... the world really made of water or fire? This debate settled down after Democrats posited the existence of atoms. It was believed by monism philosophers that atoms was the ultimate particle that made up all of reality. Today, the debate still continues: is everything made up of matter or energy? As the book asks, Are there basic particles that cannot be ... all of it has a common theme, its existence. These electrons, protons, and neutrons, blend together to make stuff, our reality, our existence. Now they are saying they have found another particle called a quark. Material Pluralism the...

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... independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful" which created him and everything else that exists. Descartes reasons that God is perfect and cannot be a deceiver as that would be an imperfection. He claims God would not deceive him about his clear and distinct ideas of the world of external bodies, thus, ... cannot come from something equal, but must come from a higher source of perfection. Without doubt, Descartes connects God to the higher source. How is it clear and distinct that God is perfect? The natural light of reason is a way that Descartes works around the standard met...

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... the unseen, as it is clear from the apostle. From the objection to his question, it is proven that it cannot be demonstrated that God exists. Opposing that argument the apostle says the things that aren't being seen are visible and comprehended by the things that which are made. Aquinas ... have to preexist its own existence. You also cannot have an infinite regress of efficient causes, unless you have an uncaused first cause, this is God. The third proof is taken from possibility and necessity. We observe possible reality, it's proved everything has existed at one time, and because of ....

• Word Count: 1162
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• Grade Level: High School