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Does God Exist?
Ernest Nagel
by
Dominique Pembleton
What is God?
Intro to
Theism.
- In terms of religious believers, God, refers to an all good, all powerful creator of the world.
- There are many theories surrounding the existence of God.
- Cosmological Argument (pro)
- Ontological Argument (pro)
- Teleological Argument (pro)
- "The Problem of Evil" (con)
AT A GLANCE
- A Theist believes god exists.
- An Athiest believes God does not exist.
- An Agnostic believes there is not enough evidence to support the existance of a God.
- View belief as a Dogma with possible rational argumentation.
Theory behind Belief
Cosmological
Argument
The Cosmological Conundrum
This theory states that everything that exists is casued by something else. In essence everything is created by "something" or "someone".
The examples given consist of:
- A house exists because of a builder.
- Rain exists becasue of meterological conditions.
The main idea is that since everything must come from something else, the world then comes from "God"
Ontological
Argument
Ontological Arguement:
relationship between concepts and catregories
The Ontological argument defines God as a perfect being. To exist is more perfect than to not exist, so by this ruling God must exist.
This argumetn is said to be, abstruse, or hard to understand.
Teleological
Argument
The Teleological Argument:
This arguement, which is seen as most possible, states that we live in a highly structured world, very much to the likes of a machine. Each part adjusted with unique percision.
With percision comes the idea that "something" else must have created such mechanisms with precicion. A designer with its design. In this analysis the human eye is brought in as an example of such intricate precision.
The intro states that, with a world of such high an order the idea that it was created due to pure chance, is then impossible. Thus giving the notion of a God as the "Supreme Mind" that created everything.
"The Problem of Evil"
"The Problem of Evil."
What is Evil? and why does it exist?
This argument challenges theism's belief of God .
The world is imperfect. Natural disasters, war, slavery and injustice occur, and are some of the evils that are ever present. Why then are we to suffer if the creator is an all good, and all powerful being?
The question that pushes this argument forward is : why would an all good/powerful creator allow evil to exist? It would not and yet evil does exist. So then there is no all good/powerful being that exists.
Thesis: Which theistic argument is more plausible in proving the existence of a God?
Nagel's analysis of each argument takes a look at how the theories work, not being inherently biased against them from the start.
Earnest Nagel
Cosmological
Argument
"The First Cause" - Everything is caused by something else.
ex: Event A causes evet B which then causes event C.
This theory is the "ancient one" and has been around for a very long time.
However, since it states that the progression of causes within the world is infinite, those who believe and use this argument often state that, "an infinite series of actual events is intelligable and absurd."
The Contradiction
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY
Nagel: If the cosmological argument were true, then why does God not have a cause himself? Some say he is self caused, but the arguement states otherwise for all creations.
Thus this argument is weak.
Broke ground in the Medevil Time's of early Chrisitian days. This idea of a perfect God, that does not lack attributes.
Immanuel Kant pushed forward this idea even more. Kant's analysis unbinds the mix of grammar and logic through examining what is existence by separating it from the attributes.
ex: A lion's hunger, and fur color is an attribute. To say a Lion exists is simply acknowledging that it is a lion.
The result is that existence does not equal attribute. Nor does an attribute belong to nature or anything.
Ontological Argument
The Issue with Perfection
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY
Nagel: Since the ontological argument suggests that god is a perfect being. Firstly it is based on an idea with which we have no notion of a perfect being without attributes. And as such, a perfect being cannot exist if it does not have attributes.
Teleological
Argument
A theory based upon empiracal data, this is the argument of design. There are two types:
1) Mutual "Fitness" - the intergration of things and their shared process as created by a higher architect.
- Living organisms are intricate beings that live in a variety of conditions.
- The intricate designs of the world must come from a 'Supreme Designer'.
2) Nature is a creation of Devine Mathmetician
- Nature is written in a mathematical language
- Success in physics currently allows us to understand our world, but something beyond that is impossible to understand, and deconstruct.
The Watch Maker
2) Mathematical tools can be used to asses nature if there is a special order, but if the world were organised in another way that our math could not asses, the theory then falls apart.
- It is limited to the amount of mathematics that we know.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY
1) A watch always has a maker behind it.
- The universe is full of animate and inanimate objects. As such organisms come to be by their parents.
- Even Darwin identified species variation as biological chance. This Data is considerable and proves a higher ruler otherwise untrue.
Kant
As humans, we are bound to the same physical laws as other organisms, but we are also bound by moral laws.
To Kant, we are obligated to uphold our morals out of duty. However, being virtuous does not guarntee happiness. Even still, those who are evil are often still rich, and happy.
The highest human good is realizing ones happiness is congruous to one's virtue.
Kant then proceeds to "postulate" that the highest good and in turn happiness is only guaranteed through God, "a necessary condition for the possibility of a moral life."
Kant , Can't
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY
The assumption of the existance of God as a means for people to be able to live out a virtuous and thus a happy life, becasue of God, does not in fact prove that God exists in the first place.
Nagel states that Kant's idea is based upon a no "means to the end's" structure.
This means that Kant's entire postulation is based upon his initial idea of Morality, which does not help to support him.
Divine Experience
The Divine
A psychologocal, mystical, and religious experience is a point of proof in Protestant theological literature.
Those who have experince this type of holy experience, find themselvs "merged" with a fundamental reality that made them loose their sense of self identity.
They give themselves to an "Ultimate Power", which is then translated into the existence of an "Ultimate Power = God".
The existence of God is then the way to unify one's conflicting thoughts, and impulses.
This examination of the existence of God is deeply flawed as it is based soley upon a personal experience, and feeling.
The evidence is insuffienct to proclaim the existence of a Divine being.
Genetic/Origin fallacy.
Con of Life
THE ROOT OF ALL EVILS
Even with the presence of evil, is it possible for there to be a just, and all powerful God?
Isolation and Evil
Evil is an illusion. "Evil" is not percieved as real, but rather the "negative" side of God's benefiance.
It seems more comforting for people who are suffering to think of their situation as not evil, but an absense of good.
This idea contradicts the theory of the ombinevolent God seeing as there is Evil all around.
Evil is present only in isolation. In relation to the rest of the creation ther is no evil.
Perspective is key. What may seem evil to one or by itself is not evil to many or in quantity.
If someone is in pain that pain is real, but since only one person feels it it is not considered an evil to those who cannot feel it.
Absense of Good
Conclusion
The Final Verdict
Based upon the facts of human life it is impossible to say that there is an omnibelevolent, and omnipotent God.
God is thus not all powerful, and has limits to his creation of order within the universe.
No historian has been able to aptly prove the existence of a Divine Diety in which it is explained witout the useage of the arguments stated before to support it.
Nagel
Well structured. Evaluated each argument soundly with anecdotal examples of their contradictions or misguidings.
Understandable, to the point, precise, does not derail, and effective in his evaluations.
Few fallacies found:
- fallacy of composition (ontological)
- appeal to emotion
- hasty generalization
- begging the question
Analysis
My Thoughts
A very intersting read regaurgin the existence of God.
Nagel was very consice in his examination and made sense in evey explanation.
I personally do not beleive in God, but the theories surrounding His existence is intruigiung, it is important to see where they come from and what they mean and if they hold up to scrutiny.
He was not preaching, but informing and showing us the information. He did not try to change our minds but to expand them