lOMoARcPSD|21126671
PHIL 201-unit 2 - Lecture notes Unit 2
Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas (Liberty
University)
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
PHIL 201
Michael Bihe, Leehigh university,
•Confirmation Bias
oThe tendency to accept evidence that supports the view that you already think is
correct
oViewing the evidence in a way that supports our view
•Obscurantist
oPerson who won’t look at the evidence that goes against his/her position
•Arguments for the existence of God:
oThe Cosmological Argument (Thomas Aquinas)
▪Three step deductive syllogism:
•World = contingent existent
•Contingent existent = caused
•:. World = cause
oSomething that is contingent is dependent on something
else
oIt is conceivable that this world does not exist
oA contingent existence is caused by something else
•First cause v infinite series of cause
•~infinite series of causes
•:. First cause
oWhere did the matter in the clump come from?
oInfinite series of beginnings
oXeno
▪Infinite sets
•Illogical but not impossible
•Arrow going to target
oThe Teleological Argument (William Paley)
▪Three steps:
•One:
oSomething exhibits design > it must have a designer
oThe universe exhibits design
o:. The universe must have a designer
•Two:
oSomething is a designer > it must be a sentient being
oA designer of the universe exists
o:. The designer of the universe is a sentient being
•Three:
oThe universe was designed by a sentient being > that being
is capable of designing the universe
oThat being is capable of designing the universe >
that being is God
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
o:. The universe was designed by a sentient being >
that being is God
oIntuition
▪Ecclesiastes 3:11
▪Romans 2:13-15
▪God built into us is an innate awareness of His law
•Right and wrong, good and bad
oPragmatic Evidence
▪Belief in God helps people in numerous ways
•Gives them purpose
•Moral compass
•Someone to turn to in times of need
•Hope in life after death
▪Belief in God changes people’s lives for the better
•Makes them more optimistic
•More fulfilling
•Hope
▪If it works, then it must be true
•Have a theory, test the theory, proves corrects of theory
•You can pragmatically justify a belief in God
oPascal’s Wager
oThe Moral Argument
▪Modus Ponens
•Absolute moral laws > an absolute mind exists
•Absolute moral laws exists
•:. An absolute mind exists
oThe Ontological Argument
▪Definition: God is “that than which nothing greater can be conceived”
•Either God exists in reality v it is possible to conceive of
something greater than God
•~possible to conceive of something greater then God
•:. God exists in reality
oThe Argument from Religious experience
▪John Hick
▪Religious experience occurs in every part of the world
▪How can we best account for the universal appearance of
this phenomenon?
•We are all crazy?
•We are all deceived?
•We are all experiencing something that actually exists in
our environment but is not seen by everyone?
•If this last is true, then what would that something be?
God, according to most of those who have experienced it.
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
oThe Resurrection of Christ
▪Jesus’ resurrection is a historical fact.
•A Modus Ponens argument:
oResurrection > Supernatural God exists
oResurrection happened
o:. Supernatural God exists
•Arguments against the existence of God
oChristians are hypocrites
▪Red herring
•The question of whether God exists or not has nothing to do
with how they act
oGod is ineffable
▪Indescribable
▪If there were a God, he would be so great that he would be beyond
our understanding
▪Not that there isn’t a God, but that you shouldn’t believe in a God
▪Reasoning
•Knowledge > belief
•Belief > concept
•:.knowledge > concept
▪But:
•~concept > ~ belief
•~concept
•:. ~belief
•~belief > ~ knowledge
•~belief
•:.~knowledge
▪If you can’t have a concept of God, then you can’t have knowledge of God
•We don’t have a concept of God
•We can’t have objective knowledge of God
oMight be more than one kind of knowledge
▪Scientific, historical knowledge
▪Relational knowledge
•Our concept of love is very limited based
on human experience
oBelief in God is not scientific
▪Assumes we should only believe things that are scientific
▪Self-referential incoherence
oThe Problem of Evil
▪The Dilemma:
•If God is omniscient, he would know about every evil event
that occurs
•If God is omnipotent, He would be able to prevent evil
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
•If God is omnibenevolent, He would want to prevent evil
•But God hasn’t prevented evil
•Either God lacks one or more of these qualities, or he doesn’t
exist at all
▪Theodicy is the response to the challenge of the problem of evil.
Theodicy offers reasons why it may be consistent for an omniscient,
omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God to allow evil to exist.
•Unsatisfactory Solutions:
oAny solution that makes God less than maximally great
reduces God to a mere superhero.
oGod is more than a superhero
o:. Such solutions are inadequate
•The “Greater Good” argument
oAllowing evil can sometimes bring about a greater good
oGod allows specific instances of evil because He knows
(although we cannot) that a greater good will result
from them.
•The “Irenaean” Theodicy
oFirst propounded by Irenaeus; more recently by John Hick
oGod does not create evil, but he allows evil to develop
in order to try, strengthen, and purify us’
•The “Free Will Defense”
oAdvocated by Augustine; more recently by Alvin Plantinga
oIn order for free will to exist, those possessing it
must possess the ability to choose evil as well as
good.
oGod gave to humanity free will, but God did not cause
our evil choices.
oHumans, not God, are responsible for the evil they
choose to do.
•The “Best Possible World” Theodicy
oAdvocated by Leibniz
oGod could have created a world without evil, but it
would be a world devoid of intercession, compassion,
heroism, and mercy
oGod created a world in which both evil and triumph
over evil are possible because this kind of world is
better than the alternative
Thursday, February 14, 2019
•Epistemology
oEpistemology is the theory of knowledge. It is the study of the nature, means,
validity, and limits of human cognition.
•Four schools of thought:
oSkepticism
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
▪Skepticism is the view that genuine knowledge is probably not possible
oRationalism
▪Rationalism is the view that knowledge ultimately comes from
reason rather than experience
•When and where to ideas come from
•Plato: Eternal soul (always existing)
oOur world is an imperfect reflection of a perfect world
oOur soul has been to the perfect world, and when we
encounter new experiences, it awakens dim memories
of past experience
•Descartes: Method of Doubt
oDoubts everything
oCogito Ergo Sum
▪I think therefore I am
oFoundationalism:
▪Cogito Ergo Sum
▪Existence of God
▪Trusting senses
oEmpiricism
▪Empiricism is the view that all knowledge comes from experience.
•Experience writes knowledge on the mind
•Aristotle, Locke, Barkley, Hume
oBorn with a blank slate
oNothing except a collection of thought and memories
oCausality
oThe more empirical you become, the closer you get
to skepticism
oRational Empiricism
▪Rational Empiricism is the view that the mind provides a framework of
ideas that makes it possible for u to gain knowledge through
experience.
•Kant’s “Copernican revolution” in epistemology:
oThe categories of understanding (space, time, causality,
etc.) constitute perception rather than being constituted
by perception
oWe have experiences because we believe in causality
oWithout the concept of matter, you can’t make sense
of the world around you
oSkepticism is incompatible with Christianity but compatible with Naturalism
oRational Empiricism is compatible with Christianity but inexplicable
for Naturalism
February 19, 2019
•Worldview and the scientific theory
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
oWorldview is like the searchlight theory, as it is a collection of facts that
helps interpret what you see
•Knowledge
oKnowledge is a justified, true belief (JTB)
▪What is a belief?
•Acceptance of or assent to the truth of some proposition
•The content of the proposition that is accepted or assented to
▪The Correspondence theory of Truth:
•Truth is a state of correspondence between the content of
a proposition and the reality that it describes.
▪Two approaches to Justification
•Existentialism: beliefs are justified by the volitional act of the
one who chooses to believe them
oYou have the right to believe whatever you choose
to believe
•Evidentialism: beliefs are justified by the evidence that
supports them
oIf you want to only believe things that are true, then
make the choice to be an evidentialist, and follow the
evidence
oIf other people want to be existential, let them
▪Four Common Versions of Evidentialism:
•Foundationalism
oA belief is justified when it is deduced from other justified
beliefs
•Coherentism
oA belief is justified for the one believing it, when it fits with
the rest of his or her beliefs, and thus, forms a coherent
belief system
•Pragmatism
oA belief is justified by its success in helping you resolve
problems or understand your world
•Scientific
oA belief is justified only when it is the result of a careful,
scientific investigation
▪Knowledge = a proposition that we are evidentially justified in
accepting as corresponding to reality and that actually does correspond
to reality.
