Lecture 18: God and Reason

1. Lecture 18: God and Reason

2. In today’s lecture we will: • Recap our investigation into Natural Theology • Outline and evaluate three versions of the ontological argument for God’s existence • St. Anselm • Descartes • Malcolm • Discuss some of the traditional criticisms against the ontological argument • Examine the moral argument for God’s existence • Conclude our rational investigation into God’s existence Today’s Lecture

3. Topic Recap

4. Natural Theology Does God exist? So far we have investigated the claim in accordance with Natural Theology Recap Revealed Theology Natural Theology Knowledge of God through special revelation Knowledge of God through the natural intellect The Bible Mystical Experience The Church Moses The Holy Spirit Rationalism “The view that affirms reason, with its interest in evidence, examination, and evaluation, as authoritative in all matters of belief and conduct”(Miller, Ed L. Questions that Matter, 2009. p.10)

5. Recap • Arguments considered so far • The cosmological and teleological arguments both rely on the concept of causality • Cosmological argument • If every event has a cause there must be a first cause • Teleological argument • If there is complexity/purpose there must be an intelligent cause • Both arguments begin with an a posterioriobservation • Logic, deduction, and a process of elimination are used to find the only possible explanation for this observation • In both arguments God is used as a transcendent (outside of time and space) first cause

6. The Ontological Argument

7. Anselm’s’ version of the ontological argument • Textbook pp. 280-281 • How does Anselm define God? • What does the example of the painter show? • Why must God exist? • What is the relationship between the understanding and existence? • What is wrong with the idea that God does not exist? • Can we think of anything greater than God? Ontological Argument

8. Ontological Argument Anselm’s’ version of the ontological argument It is possible to conceive of a being “than which nothing greater can be conceived.” If that being than which nothing greater can be conceived exists only in the mind, then it is not the greatest being that can be conceived. Therefore the possibility of conceiving a being than which nothing greater can be conceived entails the logical necessity of the real existence of such a being. This being than which nothing greater can be conceived it the being we call God.

9. Ontological Argument Descartes’ version of the ontological argument God, by definition, is that being which is absolutely perfect It is more perfect to exist than not to exist Therefore, to conceive of God it is necessarily to conceive of him as existing Therefore, to say “God does not exist” is to contradict oneself Therefore, the sentence “God exists” is necessarily true

10. Ontological Argument Malcom’s version of the ontological argument God, is an unlimited being The existence of an unlimited being is either impossible or necessary. The concept of an unlimited being is not self-contradictory, so such a being is not impossible. Therefore, such a being is necessary.

11. The method of the ontological argument • All argue that God must exist because he is perfect • Ontological argument = Argument of existence • All versions attempt to argue for God’s existence by using reason alone • They make no use of observation • Each begins by defining God • All versions proceed by ‘unpacking’ this definition of God • All versions argue that a necessary part of this definition is that God exists • They argue that God must exist a priori Ontological Argument

12. a priori arguments Ontological Argument Bachelor John is a bachelor All bachelors are unmarried men Therefore John is an unmarried man Mammal Ella is a mammal All mammals are warm blooded Therefore John is an unmarried man God God is an X All X’s must exist Therefore God must exist

13. Criticisms of the ontological argument

14. Criticisms of the ontological argument: • Is it always more perfect to exist than not to exist? • Is it better for the following to exist or not exist right here and now? • A swarm of angry bees • A million dollars • A ton of horse muck • A big buffet for everyone includingour favourite foods Criticisms

15. Criticisms of the ontological argument: • ‘Perfect’ Predicates • Which of the following exists? • Excalibur • Harry Potter • Unicorns • Fire-Breathing Dragons • Dragons • And the following: • An absolutely perfect Sword • An absolutely perfect Unicorns • An absolutely perfect Pizza • An absolutely perfect Desert Island • An absolutely perfect Ice-Cream Criticisms Just because we can add the predicate “perfect” doesn’t mean it must exist!

16. Criticisms of the ontological argument: • Existence is not a predicate • SubjectPredicate • My cake is pink • has a bunny on it • has lemon icing • has a vanilla filling • Exists Criticisms These predicates add to or change the subject Claiming that a subject exists or not does not alter or add anything to it

17. Summary

18. What is the point of Natural Theology? Few thinkers claim that we can know everything about what God is Rational arguments, such as the ontological, cosmological, teleological arguments are attempting to see how far human reason can take us towards knowledge of God Few thinkers claim that rational arguments can replace religious belief Advocates of natural theology see such arguments as worthwhile attempts at exploring the limits of human reason Rational arguments for God exists are then primarily an intellectual experiment Ontological Argument Next Lecture: We will investigate arguments claiming that using human reason alone is an inadequate or insufficient way to gain knowledge of God’s existence