Philosophy of Religion宗教哲学.pptVIP

Is Religion Reasonable? Are religious beliefs (about the universe’s relation to the supernatural) reasonable? Faith seeking understanding: ontological, cosmological, teleological arguments for the existence of God (monotheism); pantheism (God=universe); panentheism (all is in God) Are religious experiences (about one’s personal relation to divinity) reasonable? The Ontological Argument “God” means the greatest conceivable being A being that exists in one’s mind and in reality (outside of one’s mind) is greater than one that exists only in one’s mind Therefore, God must exist in reality Kant’s Objections to the Ontological Argument If there is a greatest conceivable being, then he exists. But we cannot conclude from the sheer possibility of such a being that he exists A concept of God + a concept of his existing may be greater than a concept of God alone; but these are still only concepts, not proofs of God’s existence outside our concepts The Cosmological Argument: St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) If there is no ultimate cause of the universe (that is, if the causal sequence is infinite), then nothing would ever have happened or be intelligible here and now. But things do exist here and now, so God exists here and now Hume’s Criticisms of the Cosmological Argument Fallacy of composition: parts ? whole Why should we think that everything has a cause or reason for its existence? Besides, the argument does not prove that God is anything other than a cause of things who might not care at all about his creation The Teleological Argument: Argument from Design/Purpose The order and intricacy of things in the universe make sense only if an ordering and purposive mind is their cause Criticisms of the Teleological Argument: David Hume Even the claim that the universe exhibits order is doubtful; it is a human imposition We cannot use analogy in discussing the universe: we do not experience universes or know that intelligent beings produce them Even if we argue analogously, we cann