One of the main topic in the philosophy of religion is the discussion between theists and skeptics on the existence of god. They are interesting because evaluating their soundness requires attention. In a general sense, philosophy is the study of fundamental and general problems that concern the human mind, human existence, knowledge, moral values, human reason, and language. Its been taken into consideration by many scholar people. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. In it, he employs the tools of modern confirmation theory to develop a sustained argument for theism. The religious beliefs of gods existence are probably out of human emotional need for protection and belonging since there is no reliable evidence to support these arguments. The part of natural religion that hume focuses on in the dialogues is something that is often called the argument from design, which is an argument for the existence of god that starts from the way the world works and is structured. Join us as john and ken explore issues such as religious experience, the bible, evil, eternity, the origin of the universe, design, and the supposed connection between morality and the existence of god with walter sinnottarmstrong, professor of philosophy, and hardy professor of legal studies, dartmouth college. There is no real need to prove gods existence for these believers for in their view there can be no doubt as. The problem of the existence of god has almost become a part of every being and one who his beliefs will.
Most belivers would also agree that god is a supreme being who created the universe and who is omnipotent allpowerful, godallwise and omnibenevolent allgood. The existence of god is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and popular culture a wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of god can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. Swinburne views himself as part of the long tradition of christian evidentialism that seeks to give rational reasons for belief in god. An examination of the arguments for the existence of god, and the problem of evil volume 1 lantz, dr. Arguments for the existence of god a major topic in apologetics is the existence of god. Books by famous philosophers who have written on the nonexistence of god will be used to gather sufficient information on the topic. Mackies essay evil and omnipotence 1955, in which mackie had defended an incompatibility version of the argument from evil, focuses mainly on the question of whether the existence of. In philosophical terms, the question of the existence of god involves the disciplines of epistemology the nature and scope of knowledge and. Moral arguments for gods existence form a diverse family of arguments that reason from some feature of morality or the moral life to the existence of god, usually understood as a morally good creator of the universe. The belief of evil and the existence of god 1780 words. Remember that the apologetic thinkers accept god on faith and they recognize that god is known primarily in the heart, soul, and spirit of mankind. The question of the existence of god is fundamental.
Thomistic philosophy is inspired by the philosophical methods and principles used by thomas aquinas 122451274, a dominican friar and theologian, in his explanation of the catholic faith. Ken introduces the guest, peter van inwagen, professor at notre dame. Hume shows that there seems to be a problem with god and evil coexisting. In 1978, philosopher john perry published a wellreceived little book in which three fictional friends engaged in a series of stimulating but easytounderstand discussions about.
The evidential problem of evil also referred to as the probabilistic or inductive version of the problem seeks to show that the existence of evil, although logically consistent with the existence of god, counts against or lowers the probability of the truth of theism. Both attempts have occupied the intellectual efforts of western theologians and have inspired read more. The existence of god and the problem of evil a philosophical evaluation statement of the problem the problem of the existence of god is as old as man. The fields of philosophy of religion and analytic theology show a great amount of sophistication and conceptual. Christian philosophy is a development in philosophy that sees the world through the lens of biblical truth. Rather than a traditional philosophical approach to these subjects, i take. Atheists say that there is a logical inconsistency between the existence of evil and the existence of god. If god exists, then god is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect. Dialogue on good, evil, and the existence of god 2000 mark i. Kevin timpe university of san diegoa classic work in the philosophy of religion, plantingas god, freedom, and evil is the. Many people in our society, perphaps even the majority of people, would say they believe in the existence of god.
How can there be a caring and benevolent god when there exists evil in the world. Outside of these three objections against the arguments for the existence of god, i also have some arguments that i personally think cast light against the existence of god. List of books and articles about existence of god online. No other work has made a more powerful case for the probability of the existence of god.
Evaluation students should work towards evaluating the problem of evil to see if there is a solution or what its implications might be. Gods existence from religious acts by white, john r philosophy today, vol. Richard swinburne presents a substantially rewritten and updated edition of his most celebrated book. The problem of evil poses a philosophical threat to the design argument. Knowledge of theory is related to epistemology and ontology reflects on the. Davies compares aquinas view on things such as good and bad, existence and. After weeks of exploring the existence of nature of god, today hank explores one of the biggest problems in theism, and possibly the biggest philosophical question humanity faces. Does the existence of god require there to be evil or vice versa. Thats the kind of argument that an atheist would have to develop in order to get the problem of evil off the ground as an objection to theism. As he investigated the ideas of the relatively new christian philosophy, augustine realized that an explanation for the existence of evil must be given, or else one must accept either that god created evil and so is partly evil as well as good.
Dialogue on good, evil, and the existence of god philosophy. The presence of evil in the world is considered by some to be solid evidence against the existence of god. An answer to this fundamental question is a prerequisite for answering the other big questions of life. Daviess book shows that philosophers cannot uncritically enlist thomas aquinas as a. John asks van inwagen to reconcile the problem of evil with theism. From the nature of the universe by thomas aquinas the socalled. Thus he refused to submit to being gods underling, an untergott, so to speak. This book examines and refutes the alleged disproof of god s existence from the reality of evil, especially from innocent suffering. The existence of such evil gives us good grounds to doubt the existence of god or to deny god s existence, even though it doesnt count as a strict proof.
In god and other minds, in the nature of necessity, and in god, freedom, and evil, for example, plantinga, starting out from an examination of john l. In this philosophical reflection, jane mary trau provides the framework for a response to the claim that the existence of god is incompatible with the existence of evil. David hume displays the problem well by questioning the existence of god and evil. Perrys work is an engaging, highly readable introduction to the problem of natural and moral evil with respect to belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect god. Philosophers offer defenses evil and god do not contradict and theodicies reasons why god allows evil. However, theists believe that the mere existence of evil is not. For, if both god and evil exist, god must either be willing to prevent evil, but not able or able, but not willing. Moral arguments are both important and interesting. Tool text in the judeochristianislamic traditions, one of the major problems for theists those who believe that there is a god is the problem of evil. The fact of moral evil, therefore, the theist argument would continue, is a sign of moral decadence. On the surface it seems like a viable argument against gods existence that all of the tragedies caused by human malevolence andor carelessness are allowed to occur. There are so many refutation attempts at this, i havent even looked at all of them.
Looking at the philosophers point of view, it is realized that their arguments is driven from two different disciplines which include the epistemology and the ontology. Two arguments for the nonexistence of god by theodore drange charles echelbarger explains the atheistic arguments of theodore drange theodore drange is one of a relatively small number of academic philosophers who have devoted a large part of their intellectual efforts over the last thirtysome years to systematically opposing theism. Gods existence has been an ongoing debate probably for centuries. The beauty of the problem of evil is its simplicity. Brian davies is professor of philosophy at fordham university, new york, usa. Some would argue that the very existence of evil disproves the existence of god. Recommended books on the existence of god natasha crain. The best books on the existence of god ed feser on five books.
God and evil philosophy of religion atheism agnosticism naturalism in philosophy deism. Gods crime scene brilliantly lays out the case for gods existence based on cumulative evidence from the origin of the universe, the finetuning of the universe, the origin of life, the design of life, our experience of consciousness, free will, and morality. Today we are introducing a new area of philosophy philosophy of religion. This dialogue would work well as a supplement in either an introduction to philosophy or philosophy of religion course. Dialogue on good, evil, and the existence of god hackett philosophical dialogues by perry, john and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Swinburne gives a rigorous and penetrating analysis of the most important arguments for theism. Aquinas, who is most renowned for his five ways of proving the existence of god despite providing other proofs, believed that both faith and reason discover truth, a conflict between.
The existence of moral evil shows that although god did create man with the ability to distinguish and choose between good and evil, some. Thats the kind of argument that an atheist would have to develop in order to get the problem of. Now, according to nietzsche, god is a product of a human mind, like in what is it. List of books and articles about existence of god online research. There is much more at stake in this issue than the promotion of certain religious beliefs. Don cupitt, the controversial theologian and philosopher whose bbc television series the sea of faith and accompanying book spawned a theological movement with the same name, is the interviewee for this episode of the philosophy bites podcast.
The best books on god five books expert recommendations. The best books on the existence of god ed feser on five. Although the idea of god, through its long acceptance by jews, christians, and muslims, has come to be associated with the concept of a good, infinite personality, in recent times the name has been extended to many principles of an utterly different sort. In the early part of the work, gretchen and her friends consider whether evil provides a problem for those who believe in the perfection of god. The entire objection hinges on the observation that true evil exists out there as an objective feature of the world. God, freedom, and evil and over 8 million other books are available for.
In each chapter, detective wallace evaluates possible explanations for these. An examination of the arguments for the existence of god, and the problem of evil volume 1. John perryauthor of the acclaimed dialogue on personal identity and immortality hackett publishing co. Discover librarianselected research resources on existence of god from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic. Dialogue on good, evil, and the existence of god hackett. Professor traus approach begins with the construction of the theory of positive value. Anyway, you have probably heard the argument against gods existence which simply cites as evidence the existence of evil in the world. Dialogue on good, evil, and the existence of god john. In his discussion of natural theology arguments to prove the existence of god and natural atheology arguments for the falsehood of theistic belief plantinga focuses on two of the traditional arguments. As an example, a critic of plantingas idea of a mighty nonhuman spirit. The existence of such evil gives us good grounds to doubt the existence of god or to deny gods existence, even though it doesnt count as a strict proof. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Thus peter van inwagen, throughout his book the problem of evil. In his discussion of natural theology arguments to prove the existence of god and natural atheology arguments for the falsehood of theistic belief plantinga.
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