Exam 4: The Search for God

All versions of the cosmological argument contain the claim that the universe is not self-explanatory.

Discuss Richard Taylor's version of the cosmological argument with respect to the following questions.How does he use the image of the giant ball in the woods to illustrate the principle of sufficient reason? Why does he think that if the world had always existed,it would still need an explanation outside of itself? What does he mean by the notion of a "necessary being"? Why does he think there must be a necessary being?

Pascal's discussion of gambling and religious belief is intended to show that

Another name for agnosticism is

F.R.Tennant attempted to reconcile Darwinian evolution with a revised version of the teleological argument.

Albert Camus's novel The Plague presents the view that all suffering is justified and serves a good purpose.

Set out the problem of evil in the form of an argument.What are reasons that can be given in support of each premise?

Discuss the differences between evidentialism and nonevidentialism.Which position do you think is more plausible? Why? Explain how it is possible for atheists,theists,and agnostics all to be evidentialists.Briefly explain the positions of the theistic evidentialist and the atheistic evidentialist.

An evidentialist is one who claims that belief in God must be supported by objective evidence.

Which statement best characterizes John Hick's position?

Blaise Pascal believed that faith could be proven by reason.

According to William James,an essential condition for an act of faith to be a reasonable option is when

Anselm's critic,Gaunilo,rejected the ontological argument because he was an atheist.

A posteriori arguments are arguments that are based on

Pascal's,James's,and Kierkegaard's position on faith and reason could be best described as

Set out,in a series of steps,the ontological argument.Discuss Gaunilo's and Kant's criticisms of the argument.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution raised problems for which theistic argument?

Set out,in a series of succinct premises,Thomas Aquinas's first cause argument.What are some possible criticisms that could be made of the argument?

John Hick argues that God made the world a paradise in which we could experience nothing but pleasure,thus human moral wickedness is the cause of all suffering.

A criticism of the cosmological argument mentioned in the text is