Philosophers and their arguments – Flashcards
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, The Ethics of Belief
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William Clifford
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Truth is Subjective
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Soren Kierkegaard,
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The Wager
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Blaise Pascal,
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, The Will to Believe
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William James
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, Harmony of Reason...
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Thomas Aquinas
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The Reformed Objection...
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Alvin Plantinga,
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Experience, Proper Basicality...
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Robert Pargetter,
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Sophisticated Theist
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William Hasker, ...
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Classical Cosmological...
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Thomas Aquinas,
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Kalam Cosmological...
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William L. Craig,
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Critique of the Cosmological...
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J. L. Mackie,
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rejects strong foundationlisism but excepts weak foundationlism- no edict structure- all theists have one...he argues a set of propositions that conjoined--we except as foundation a base ( foundation from where beliefs are formed )
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Plantiga
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Believes Each human has a "strong propensity or inclination toward belief in God. So the unbeliever is in an "epistemicaly" substandard position
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Plantiga
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Rejects natural theology saying 1. not necessary 2. should not-avail ourselves to them--but have faith 3. they do not work
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Plantiga
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His argument hinges on the idea that access to the evidence for whether or not certain beliefs are true depends crucially upon first adopting those beliefs without evidence. As an example, he argues that it can be rational to have unsupported faith in one's own ability to accomplish tasks that require confidence. Importantly, He s points out that this is the case even for pursuing scientific inquiry. He then argues that like belief in one's own ability to accomplish a difficult task, religious faith can also be rational even if one at the time lacks evidence for the truth of one's religious belief
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Will to Believe - William James
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talks about a "genuine" choice. Any choice which merits this name for James must meet three criteria: be live be forced be momentuous
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Will to Believe - William James
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Thesis: When we have a genuine option that cannot be decided solely on intellectual grounds, our passional nature must be allowed to rule. Empiricists don't know when they have found truth while the absolutist do. Although we're born with absolutist attitudes, we should overcome this weakness and strive for the empiricist attitude of continually searching for the truth. You have more to lose by fearing error in the matter of genuine option than you have to gain. Our will is bound to play a part in the formation of our opinions.
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Will to Believe - William James
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he argues that "subjectivity is truth" and "truth is subjectivity." What he means by this is that most essentially, truth is not just a matter of discovering objective facts. While objective facts are important, there is a second and more crucial element of truth, which involves how one relates oneself to those matters of fact. Since how one acts is, from the ethical perspective, more important than any matter of fact, truth is to be found in subjectivity rather than objectivity.
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Soren Kierkegaard,
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represents a radical version of fideism in which faith not only is higher than reason but, in a sense, opposes it. Faith, not reason, is the highest virtue a human can reach; -, faith is necessary for the deepest human fulfillment.
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Soren Kierkegaard, subjectivity is truth
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argues that there is something fundamentally misguided in trying to base one's religious faith on objective evidence or reason. It is both useless (it won't work) and a bad thing (it detracts one from the essential task of growing in faith). He then goes on to develop a theory of subjectivity wherein faith finds an authentic home.
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Kierkegaard , subjectivity is truth
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he argues: Every belief must be based on sufficient evidence -No belief exists for the good of any particular individual alone, but for the sake of the public good -they all contribute to the common network of beliefs -thus, they all contribute to binding humans together and directing their cooperative actions -But if so, then every belief, no matter how seemingly insignificant, can have an impact on the lives of others Every person has this duty to believe only upon sufficient evidence
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William Clifford , ethics of belief
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argues that is is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
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William Clifford , ethics of belief
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(P1) We have an epistemic obligation to possess sufficient evidence for all of our beliefs; (P2) We have a moral obligation to uphold our epistemic obligations; (C) Thus, we have a moral obligation to possess sufficient evidence for all of our beliefs.
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William Clifford , ethics of belief
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an argument against theism. His argument can be reconstructed as follows: 1. There is insufficient evidence for the belief that God exists. 2. "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." ("Clifford's Credo") C. It is wrong to believe that God exists.
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William Clifford , ethics of belief
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he compares plantinga's description of how many theists believe in God to the way in which Obi-Wan Kenobi believed in the Force.
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pargetter , Experience, Proper Basicality, and belief in God
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3 defeaters - Problem with evil , plurality of religions , projective psychological explanation. flaw making the move from individual level to whole level he says we need natural theology - because of these 3 defeaters all arguments which explains things as they are ....theistic or non-theistic world view
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Hasker - Sophisticated Theist
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talks about holistic evaluation - claim has to be read in the context of ones whole life. the claim of proper basicallity for belief in God, grounded in experience, will depend ultimately on reliable persons having such experiences in circumstances which do not under mind their reliability, and for the resulting systems of beliefs to fare well on holistic evaluation for rationality.
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pargetter , Experience, Proper Basicality, and belief in God
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faith and reason are compatible - twofold nature of truths Truths that can be known about God though Human reason/ Natural Rationally -Available but limited ( he is , He is powerful, worthy of worship) - Natural Theology - all thinking and rational people can know certain things about God Nature , the way the cosmos is , 09:04 - Cannot know everything through revelation (Natural) Other truths - Special Revelation - truths not available to reason alone - above reason special revelation - God's Word, Miracles ,
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Thomas Aquinas - Relationship between Faith and Reason
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Values - Three values - We are called to something higher We have to have a higher reason for God than reason alone - not rational power alone Don't be so presumptions that your rational powers are able to wrap up God alone Special revelation about God is needed because ...only a small group of people would have time and capacity to learn about God through natural revelation alone
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Relationship between Faith and Reason - Aquinas
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Core beliefs 33:04 - Human beings are inherently religious. 33:20 - Human beings are never religiously neutral. 33:37 - The thinking of the unbeliever is distorted ( the fall)
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Fideism
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Presents a case for strong rationalism. It is simply and morally wrong for anyone to believe anything without sufficient evidence. Everyone who accepts a belief should do so on the basis of reason and evidence.
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William Clifford
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Rejecting both fideism and neutralism (foundationalism), makes his case for critical dialog in which we rationally test our religious beliefs even though we recognize our inability to conclusively prove them.
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Stephan Evans
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Proposes a thought experiment: Suppose we have no evidence whatsoever concerning the existence or non-existence of God. Under these conditions, which belief should we accept? The believer has nothing (or little) to lose and everything to gain. Good sense and reason require that we should believe in God, even in the absence of evidence for or against this belief.
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Blaise Pascal
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Argues that there are some truths about God that can be learned through human reason, and others that are known only through revelation.
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Thomas Aquinas
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Under certain circumstances, it is perfectly proper to make decisions about belief and unbelief based on our "passional nature." Where adequate evidence is available, we should follow it. There are times—when clear-cut evidence is not available—that beliefs can (and should) reasonably be formed.
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William James
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an example of fideism
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Kierkegaard
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An example of foundationalism
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William Clifford
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The human being is not able to reach a full comprehension of the divine substance through its natural power. Thus, some truths about God exceed the ability of human reason. It is presumptuous for the human being to think that he is capable of knowing all that there is to know about God through rationality alone.
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Thomas Aquinas
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Presents the analogy of a ship owner who sends to sea a ship that he suspects may be unseaworthy and who is, thus, culpable for the deaths of the passengers.
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William Clifford
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Regarding the choice that either God exist or He does not exist: "If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is."
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Blaise Pascal
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The thesis the author defends is: "Our passional nature not only lawfully may, but must, decide an option between propositions, whenever it is a genuine option that cannot by its nature be decided upon intellectual grounds; for to say under such circumstances, 'Do not decide but leave the question open,' is itself a passional decision—just like deciding yes or no—an attended with the same risk of losing the truth."
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william James
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In summary, "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.
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William Clifford
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Presents relational analogies to support the case that our non-intellectual nature does influence our beliefs and con
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William James
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Detached, objective inquiry is inappropriate on religious matters. "It is the passion of the infinite that is the decisive factor and not its content, for its content is precisely itself. In this manner, subjectivity and the subjective 'how' constitute the truth." Truth is "an objective uncertainty held fast in an appropriation-process of the most passionate inwardness."
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Soren Keirkegaard
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Taking the best of fideism & neutralism How can we test our basic religious beliefs?
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Stephan Evans
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Critical dialog is important to a robust religious faith
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Stephan Evans
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we begin by accepting and acknowledging our own commitments and convictions but are read and willing to test them by critical reflection and vigorous dialog with those whose commitments are different than our owns.
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Stephan Evans
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Stephan's Critique of fideism
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Is internally self-justifying The problem of religious pluralism Eliminates rational reflection If we accept theism, then we should accept human rationality and its use as a gift from God
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Stephan's Critique of neutralism
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Is it possible to be rational & completely neutral? Is neutralism desirable even as an ideal? neutralist insist that rational thought be presuppositonaless
