Obviously, our reason cannot of itself provide us with complete knowledge of God, if it could we would ourselves would be God. Nevertheless, through our reason we are able to gain some certain knowledge of God. Thomas Aquinas theorized five different logical arguments to prove the existence of God utilizing scientific hypotheses and basic assumptions of nature called "The Five Ways". The First Way is Motion. Our senses prove that some things are in motion.
Personality and moral self explain how and why human beings make free choices. The libertarianism theory has been explained by CA Campbell, who said that human beings see themselves as free agents and therefore accept moral responsibility for their actions. Humans must accept responsibility for these actions and face any consequences that may come their way. John Stuart Mill - an influencal figure in Liberatarianism – believe we are free and morally responsible for all our actions. Mill believed it was extremely important that an indivduals free will should not be crushed by society.
Socrates uses a rather elaborate argument to show this definition is also insufficient. If the gods approve of something because it is holy, their approval cannot be what makes it holy, he says. If an act is holy because the gods approve of it, we still do not know what makes it holy or why the gods approve. It seems that any attempt to define holiness by the will or approval of the gods is bound to fail. Even in contemporary society, we tend to associate morality with some kind of divine will, but through the Euthyphro, Socrates seems to suggesting we think along another line altogether.
Outline two key objections to the Ontological Argument and explain the responses made to them. The ontological argument was first introduced by Anselm in the ‘Prosologian’. It is an a priori argument as it is not based on empirical evidence but id deductive and analytic in that it allows one to use logical reasoning to reach a logically necessary conclusion which, in theory, cannot be disputed. Anselm defines God as ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’ (TTWNGCBC) and states that everyone, theist or not, can accept this definition. He argues that ‘the fool’ in Psalm 53 can conceive of God but fails to believe he exists.
Therefore, Wiles comes to the conclusion that God's goodness and the concept of miracles are two incompatible ideas. When discussing God's omnibenevolemce, Wiles introduces the nature of God and its impact on miracles. However, this also anthropomorphises him. As humans, with a limited knowledge of what the word 'good' means, Maimonedes states that it would be disrespectful to attribute this equivocal concept to an unlimited God. We cannot judge God, nor his actions because he is a non cognitive being.
Response #1 According to ex-nihilo “good is present in all things.” There is nothing that is created that is apart from God. So everything that is created has God’s fingerprints. Rowan Williams says that, “each one of us is already in relationship with God before we’ve ever thought about it. It means that every object or person we encounter is in a relationship with God (Pg. 35).” God designed every organism and every person; and if this organism is living then God is living in it.
He was influenced by Aristotle’s view that humans, like all objects in this realm, have a specific purpose. He argued supreme good is experienced when we fulfil our purpose. It was argued that our supreme good is ‘eudaimonia’ or ‘wellbeing’. So, if we have in mind living such a lifestyle, influenced by reason when making moral decisions then are we not more likely to make the right moral decisions? The second is the Divine law which is important to this issue as it reflects the eternal law as it appears to us through revelation.
Critically assess the claim that conscience is the voice of reason (35) There are a number of views on whether conscience is the voice of reason and where this voice comes from; is it from God, do we acquire it or is it innate. Aquinas thought conscience was the natural ability of people to understand the difference between right and wrong. He believed that all people aim for what is good and try to avoid the bad (synderesis rule). Aquinas argued that although people should always follow their conscience he understood that people make wrong choices. He defined conscience in this way as “the mind of man making moral judgements” and defined it as having two parts- synderesis and conscientia (decision leading to a particular action).
“The Irenaean theodicy solves the problem of evil for religious believers” assess this view. The main points of the Irenaean theodicy (also known as the vale of soul making) are that humans were created at an epistemic distance from God. Irenaean believed we had to grow to become like God. For humanity to achieve this, we must live in a world which would enable us to grow and mature into spiritual beings. This would enable mankind to be tempted by danger.
The design argument outlines that the world has been designed, and therefore requires a designer. This designer, has to have been God because he is the only being that has the power and will to do so. This argument is a posteriori because it bases it’s argument on observations within the Universe. It is also an inductive proof because it has more than one possible conclusion. There are a few ideas that support the idea of the world being designed, one of them being Aquinas’s Fifth Way.