Question 1

The ontological argument gets its name from its attempt to prove that the existence of God is implied by the concept of God.

Accepted Answer

The ontological argument is named for its focus on ontology, the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being and existence, and it attempts to prove God's existence as a necessary implication of the concept or definition of God itself.

Question 2

According to Anselm's ontological argument, if God is the greatest conceivable being, and if it is greater for God to exist in reality and in our minds than solely in our minds, then God must exist in reality.

Accepted Answer

Anselm's ontological argument posits that if we can conceive of God as the greatest possible being, then God must exist in reality because existing both in reality and in the mind is greater than existing only in the mind.

Question 3

To say that a being exists necessarily is to say that it's impossible for the being not to exist.

Accepted Answer

Saying a being exists necessarily means it must exist in every possible scenario or world, implying it is impossible for it not to exist.

Question 4

Kant's objection to the ontological argument is based on his claim that existence is not contained in the concept of a thing.

Accepted Answer

Kant argued that existence is not a predicate or a property that a thing can either possess or lack. According to him, saying that a thing exists does not add anything to the concept of that thing itself; it merely posits the thing as being a part of reality. Therefore, Kant objected to the ontological argument for God's existence, which claims that because we can conceive of a most perfect being, such a being must exist. Kant's critique is that existence cannot be a part of the concept of something, and thus the argument fails.

Question 5

Descartes' ontological argument assumes that since it is better to exist than not to exist, God exists.

Accepted Answer

Descartes' ontological argument assumes that existence is a perfection, and that God is the most perfect being. Therefore, God must exist.

Question 6

Someone who believes in the cosmological or first cause argument for the existence of God cannot also believe in the "big bang" theory of the origin of the universe because God could not have created the universe in that way.

Accepted Answer

The cosmological or first cause argument posits that everything that begins to exist has a cause, and since the universe began to exist, it must have a cause, which some identify as God. Believing in this argument does not inherently conflict with the Big Bang theory, as one could hold that God initiated the Big Bang, thus harmonizing belief in a divine creator with scientific explanations of the universe's origin.

Question 7

According to the cosmological argument for the existence of God, because nothing can cause itself, and the string of causes cannot stretch infinitely backwards in time, there must be a first cause, namely, God.

Accepted Answer

The cosmological argument posits that everything that begins to exist has a cause, and because an infinite regress of causes is impossible, there must be an uncaused first cause, which is identified as God.

Question 8

The teleological argument for the existence of God is sometimes called the argument from design because it claims that the order found in the world is caused by an intelligent designer.

Accepted Answer

The teleological argument, indeed, is often referred to as the argument from design, as it posits that the complexity and order observed in the universe can only be explained by the existence of a supreme intelligent designer, typically understood to be God.

Question 9

In his teleological argument for the existence of God, Paley compares the universe to a watch and claims that just as a watch has gears, so must the universe.

Accepted Answer

Paley's teleological argument compares the universe to a watch, emphasizing design and purpose, but he does not specifically claim that the universe must have gears like a watch.

Question 10

As part of his critique of the design argument, Hume claims that the universe resembles an animal as much as it does a machine.

Accepted Answer

Hume argues that if we are to draw analogies between the universe and human artifacts to infer a designer, then the universe could as much resemble an organic being (like an animal) as it does a machine, challenging the specificity of the design argument's analogy.

Question 11

Pantheists deny that God exists.

Accepted Answer

Pantheists believe that God or divinity is identical with the universe and the natural world, not that God does not exist.

Question 12

Agnostics believe that the existence of God cannot be proven one way or the other.

Accepted Answer

Agnostics hold the view that the existence or nonexistence of any deity is unknown and possibly unknowable.

Question 13

According to the free-will explanation of why evil exists, it's impossible to have free will without evil.

Accepted Answer

The free-will explanation for the existence of evil posits that for free will to be meaningful, individuals must have the option to choose between good and evil. Without the possibility of choosing evil, the concept of free will would be significantly diminished, as it relies on the genuine ability to make choices.

Question 14

A theodicy is an attempt to explain how an omniscient, omnipotent, all good God can exist simultaneously with evil in the world.

Accepted Answer

A theodicy is indeed an attempt to reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and wholly good God, addressing the problem of evil.

Question 15

According to the argument from mystical experience for the existence of God, the best explanation for mystical experiences is that God caused them.

Accepted Answer

The argument from mystical experience posits that the most plausible explanation for the profound, transformative experiences reported by mystics across various cultures and religions is that they are caused by an encounter with a divine reality or God.

Question 16

William James argues that we should always limit our belief to that for which we have evidence and should never commit ourselves to beliefs on insufficient evidence.

Accepted Answer

William James, in his essay "The Will to Believe," argues that in certain cases, it is justifiable to hold beliefs without sufficient evidence, especially when the decision is forced, momentous, and not decidable on intellectual grounds alone.

Question 17

According to William James, though we cannot rationally decide whether God exists, we are justified in believing in God if making such a decision is very important in our lives and cannot be avoided anyway.

Accepted Answer

William James, in his essay "The Will to Believe," argues that in cases where a decision is both live (meaning it is a real possibility for us) and forced (meaning we must make a choice), and where the option cannot be decided on intellectual grounds alone due to insufficient evidence, we are justified in making a leap of faith based on our passional nature if the decision is momentous. This includes the belief in God, which for many is a significant and unavoidable decision.

Question 18

Pascal's wager attempts to prove that God exists by showing how arguments in favor of God's existence are more reasonable than arguments against his existence.

Accepted Answer

Pascal's Wager doesn't attempt to prove God's existence; instead, it argues that believing in God is the better bet under uncertainty, given the potential infinite gains of heaven or infinite losses of hell.

Question 19

According to Pascal, belief in the existence of God is pragmatically justified because it could be of great benefit to the believer.

Accepted Answer

Pascal's Wager argues that it is in one's own best interest to behave as if God exists, since the potential benefits of believing are so vast as to make betting on the belief a rational choice.

Question 20

Critics of the argument from mystical experience argue that mystical experiences might simply be hallucinations or caused by neurological abnormalities.

Accepted Answer

Critics argue that mystical experiences could be the result of hallucinations or neurological abnormalities, questioning their reliability as evidence for the existence of a higher reality or divine being.

Quiz 6: The Problem of Evil and the Existence of God