Barry's Blog

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The Ontological Argument

September 22, 2007

The Ontological Argument is an argument which attempts to provide for the existence of God with reason, alone. To give a very basic explanation, it argues that if one can conceive of God, than this implies the actual existence of God. For many:

1. this argument is difficult to understand
2. this argument’s soundness is difficult to understand
3. this argument is considered defective and, consequently, fallacious

However, it is certainly worthy of consideration in conjunction with other arguments for the existence of God. The following represents what I hope to be an understandable form of this argument; and, it is based upon the initial argument presented by Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109). It is intended for the reasoning atheist.

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The Teleological Argument
(Design/Designer Argument)

August 26, 2007

Here are various forms of this argument:

Form #1 (Set forth in two basic parts)

Argument for Design -

1. If order and adjustment exist, then design exists.
2. Order and adjustment exist.
3. Therefore, design exists.

Argument for a Designer -

1. If design exists, then something (or someone) capable of effecting that design exists.
2. Design exists.
3. Therefore, something (or someone) capable of effecting that design exists.

The arguments are valid in form and will become sound if the premises are true. A close examination reveals that it is premise #2 of argument #1 that needs to be proven true in order for both arguments to be sound. Therefore, the burden of the theist is to demonstrate the veracity of premise #2 in argument #1.

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The Moral Argument

October 6, 2007

There are many different forms of the Moral Argument. I’ll include a number of them in this paper along with one we’ll study in detail.

The Formal Moral Argument

Moral arguments take the existence or nature of morality to imply the existence of God. The formal moral argument specifically takes the form of morality—its normativity and authority—as grounds for holding that it has a divine origin.

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The Cosmological Argument
(Approach of Philosophical Inference)

September 9, 2007

Here is a simple form of this argument that I recommend each student memorizing (note: although the form is simple, enough, the explanation and understanding of it is a bit more complex). In actuality, this form goes beyond the basic “cosmological argument” and takes the step to actually assert something about the first cause being the God of the Bible.

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