Section B of our course deals with the cosmological argument. The cosmological argument basically says that the mere existence of the world requires an explanation -- and that this explanation can only be God. However, the cosmological argument has various forms, and some may be better than others.Arguments for God's ExistenceWe'll begin with a short introduction to theistic arguments from our main textbook (from pages 163-4 of Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (second edition), edited by Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach, and Basinger).
These computerized exercise materials are copyrighted (c) 2002 by Harry J. Gensler; but they may be distributed freely.
Philosophers have proposed four main sorts of argument for the existence of God. There must be a God, they say, because:COSMOLOGICAL: the mere existence of the world requires an explanation
These basic arguments come in various forms, which may not be equally good.
TELEOLOGICAL: the order and design in the world requires a designer
ONTOLOGICAL: the idea of a supremely perfect being requires existence
MORAL: our moral obligations require a source"Hard rationalist" philosophers take one or another of these arguments to give strong or even conclusive evidence for God's existence. "Soft rationalist" philosophers think the arguments give, not strict proofs, but rather strong points in favor of belief in God -- points that we must keep in mind as we make our over-all assessment of theism.