PHIL 201 Study Guide Lesson 18 Arguments for the Existence of God.

PHIL 201 Study Guide Lesson 18 Arguments for the Existence of God.
Philosophy 201

Study Guide Lesson 18: Arguments for the Existence of God
Points:
What are the three specific areas in which Craig argues life is absurd is there is no God or immortality – 1)
What is the atheist response to each of these areas and why does that response ultimately fail according to Craig – Meaning of Life
What is the dilemma for modern man as a result of denying God’s existence
Explain the Noble Lie

The Ontological Argument
Anselm’s Version of the Argument: God is the greatest possible being
Anselm’s answer to Gaunilo’s objection
Know Kant’s objection to it
Malcolm’s Version: God as a necessary being
How can the Ontological Argument be used to prove atheism
Evans’s evaluation of the argument: if not rationally compelling, then what is its value + what is the moral for all the arguments

The Cosmological Argument
Distinctions between part/whole versions and temporal/non-temporal versions – Part/Whole Versions:
The non-temporal contingency version of the argument
Three irrelevant objections to the argument
Evans’s reply to the “matter is the necessary being” objection
Evans’s reply to the “infinite series of causes” objection
Evans’s final evaluation of the rationality of the argument

The Teleological Argument
Aquinas’s version of the argument
The argument as a probable argument
The simple version of the argument
The analogical version of the argument
Hume’s two “analogical” objections to the argument and Evans’s responses
The Evolutionary objection and Evans’s responses
Explain the fine tuning argument, criticisms of it, and responses to the criticisms
Hume’s “religious” objections to the argument and Swinburne’s response
How the cosmological and teleological arguments balance each other out
Concluding comment about the nature of proof and philosophy

The Moral Argument
Kant’s version of the argument
The “inference to the best explanation” form of the argument
The cultural and individual relativist objections and Evans’s responses
The emotivist objection and Evans’s responses
Naturalism’s three attempts to ground morality apart from God and their accompanying problems

The heart of the moral argument
Two ways God’s existence grounds morality (DCT and HNT) and how moral obligations make more sense in a world with God then without it
Explain two versions of divine command theory
Evans’s balanced evaluation of the value of the arguments for God’s existence
Terms:
Best Explanations Approach
Cumulative Case Approach
Minimalistic Concept of God
Ontological Argument
Cosmological Argument
Necessary Being
Contingent Being
Principle of Sufficient Reason
Teleological Argument
Telos
Beneficial Order
Inference to the Best Explanation
Analogical Argument
Fine Tuning Argument
Moral Argument
Cultural Relativism
Individual Relativism
Naturalistic Humanism
Divine Command Theory
Human Nature Theo