Infinity and the Proofs for the Existence of God

Infinity and the Proofs for the Existence of God PDF Author: Glenn F. Chesnut
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1532070349
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
This book is more than just a set of logical proofs. It shows us who and what God is, and explains how our universe exploded into existence in the Big Bang, some 13.799 billion years ago, in such a way that all other Being in the universe derives its existence and nature — and its capacities for growth, power, moral character, change, and novelty — from God as the Ground of Being. This is a book for people who are interested in philosophy. It begins with a discussion of some of the fallacies into which the concept of infinity has led careless thinkers over the centuries. In particular, Chesnut demonstrates how often the modern defenses of atheism have been based on what are no more than pseudo-infinite regresses. This includes in particular self-delusive attempts to get rid of God by constructing what would be no more than imaginary universe-sized perpetual motion machines. The last half of the book then has as its central focus the set of Five Proofs for the Existence of God formulated by the great medieval thinker St. Thomas Aquinas, where Chesnut begins by showing how each of the proofs was interpreted in the middle ages. But the development of modern science requires that the Five Proofs be reworked for today, so he shows, for example, how the Proof from Motion can be reworded as an Argument from Energy, subject to the laws of thermodynamics, and how the Proof from Gradations in Truth and Value forces us to decide whether we will accept that at least some moral values are real, or instead will become what modern psychologists call psychopaths. This present book, combined with the work Chesnut authored nine years ago — God and Spirituality: Philosophical Essays — sets out an architectonic philosophical system for the twenty-first century, grounded on one side in the classics of the ancient Greco-Roman world and the medieval period, but on the other hand taking seriously the revolutionary changes in western thought produced by the development of twentieth-century science, including relativity, quantum theory, the uncertainty principle, and Gödel’s proof.

Infinity and the Proofs for the Existence of God

Infinity and the Proofs for the Existence of God PDF Author: Glenn F. Chesnut
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1532070349
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
This book is more than just a set of logical proofs. It shows us who and what God is, and explains how our universe exploded into existence in the Big Bang, some 13.799 billion years ago, in such a way that all other Being in the universe derives its existence and nature — and its capacities for growth, power, moral character, change, and novelty — from God as the Ground of Being. This is a book for people who are interested in philosophy. It begins with a discussion of some of the fallacies into which the concept of infinity has led careless thinkers over the centuries. In particular, Chesnut demonstrates how often the modern defenses of atheism have been based on what are no more than pseudo-infinite regresses. This includes in particular self-delusive attempts to get rid of God by constructing what would be no more than imaginary universe-sized perpetual motion machines. The last half of the book then has as its central focus the set of Five Proofs for the Existence of God formulated by the great medieval thinker St. Thomas Aquinas, where Chesnut begins by showing how each of the proofs was interpreted in the middle ages. But the development of modern science requires that the Five Proofs be reworked for today, so he shows, for example, how the Proof from Motion can be reworded as an Argument from Energy, subject to the laws of thermodynamics, and how the Proof from Gradations in Truth and Value forces us to decide whether we will accept that at least some moral values are real, or instead will become what modern psychologists call psychopaths. This present book, combined with the work Chesnut authored nine years ago — God and Spirituality: Philosophical Essays — sets out an architectonic philosophical system for the twenty-first century, grounded on one side in the classics of the ancient Greco-Roman world and the medieval period, but on the other hand taking seriously the revolutionary changes in western thought produced by the development of twentieth-century science, including relativity, quantum theory, the uncertainty principle, and Gödel’s proof.

New Proofs for the Existence of God

New Proofs for the Existence of God PDF Author: Robert J. Spitzer
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802863833
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Responding to contemporary popular atheism, Robert J. Spitzer's New Proofs for the Existence of God examines the considerable evidence for God and creation that has come to light from physics and philosophy during the last forty years. --from publisher description.

Revisiting Aquinas’ Proofs for the Existence of God

Revisiting Aquinas’ Proofs for the Existence of God PDF Author: Robert Arp
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004311580
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Edited and introduced by Robert Arp, Revisiting Aquinas’ Proofs for the Existence of God is a collection of new papers written by scholars focusing on the famous Five Proofs or Ways (Quinque Viae) for the existence of God put forward by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) near the beginning of his unfinished tome, Summa Theologica. It is not an exaggeration to say that not only is Aquinas’ Summa a landmark text in the history of Western philosophy and Christianity, but also that the Five Proofs discussed therein—namely, the arguments that conclude to the Unmoved Mover, Uncaused Cause, Necessary Being, Superlative Being, and Intelligent Director—are as compelling today as they were in the 13th Century. Written in a debate format with different scholars arguing for and against each Proof, the papers in the book consist of arguments utilizing various combinations of contemporary science and philosophical ideas to bolster the positions. The result is a revisiting of Aquinas’ Proofs that is relevant, stimulating, enlightening, and refreshing.

Hegel on the Proofs and Personhood of God

Hegel on the Proofs and Personhood of God PDF Author: Robert R. Williams
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019879522X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Hegel's analysis of his culture identifies nihilistic tendencies in modernity i.e., the death of God and end of philosophy. Philosophy and religion have both become hollowed out to such an extent that traditional disputes between faith and reason become impossible because neither any longer possesses any content about which there could be any dispute; this is nihilism. Hegel responds to this situation with a renewal of the ontological argument (Logic) and ontotheology, which takes the form of philosophical trinitarianism. Hegel on the Proofs and Personhood of God examines Hegel's recasting of the theological proofs as the elevation of spirit to God and defense of their content against the criticisms of Kant and Jacobi. It also considers the issue of divine personhood in the Logic and Philosophy of Religion. This issue reflects Hegel's antiformalism that seeks to win back determinate content for truth (Logic) and the concept of God. While the personhood of God was the issue that divided the Hegelian school into left-wing and right-wing factions, both sides fail as interpretations. The center Hegelian view is both virtually unknown, and the most faithful to Hegel's project. What ties the two parts of the book together--Hegel's philosophical trinitarianism or identity as unity in and through difference (Logic) and his theological trinitarianism, or incarnation, trinity, reconciliation, and community (Philosophy of Religion)--is Hegel's Logic of the Concept. Hegel's metaphysical view of personhood is identified with the singularity (Einzelheit) of the concept. This includes as its speculative nucleus the concept of the true infinite: the unity in difference of infinite/finite, thought and being, divine-human unity (incarnation and trinity), God as spirit in his community.

Proofs for the Existence of God

Proofs for the Existence of God PDF Author: Christian Kanzian
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christianity and other religions
Languages : de
Pages : 180

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Book Description


Five Proofs of the Existence of God

Five Proofs of the Existence of God PDF Author: Edward Feser
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 1681497808
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
This book provides a detailed, updated exposition and defense of five of the historically most important (but in recent years largely neglected) philosophical proofs of God’s existence: the Aristotelian, the Neo-Platonic, the Augustinian, the Thomistic, and the Rationalist. It also offers a thorough treatment of each of the key divine attributes—unity, simplicity, eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, perfect goodness, and so forth—showing that they must be possessed by the God whose existence is demonstrated by the proofs. Finally, it answers at length all of the objections that have been leveled against these proofs. This work provides as ambitious and complete a defense of traditional natural theology as is currently in print. Its aim is to vindicate the view of the greatest philosophers of the past— thinkers like Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Aquinas, Leibniz, and many others— that the existence of God can be established with certainty by way of purely rational arguments. It thereby serves as a refutation both of atheism and of the fideism that gives aid and comfort to atheism.

Dot, Dot, Dot

Dot, Dot, Dot PDF Author: James A. Lindsay
Publisher: Onus Books
ISBN: 9780956694898
Category : Atheism
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Infinity and God have been close bedfellows over the recent millennia of human thought. But this is James A. Lindsay's point. These two ideas are thought, mere concepts. Lindsay shows in a concise and readable manner that infinity is an abstraction, and shows that, in all likelihood, so is God, particularly if he has infinite properties. This book is about math. It is about God. It is about stressing the importance of not confusing these two ideas with reality. Never the twain shall meet. "A short and engaging read on the meeting of two huge ideas, infinity and God, that leaves us seeing both as abstract ideas that may have nothing to do with reality. Honest and accessible, Dot, Dot, Dot is a great little book to stretch your thinking." - Peter Boghossian, author of A Manual for Creating Atheists "Timely, important and very readable, this book pulls the rug from under theists' feet." - Jonathan MS Pearce, The Little Book of Unholy Questions "Read this to avoid making any more cardinal sins and learn how much math is an amazing human endeavor." - Aaron Adair, PhD, The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View

The Kalam Cosmological Argument, Volume 1

The Kalam Cosmological Argument, Volume 1 PDF Author: Paul Copan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1501330799
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Did the universe begin to exist? If so, did it have a cause? Or could it have come into existence uncaused, from nothing? These questions are taken up by the medieval-though recently-revived-kalam cosmological argument, which has arguably been the most discussed philosophical argument for God's existence in recent decades. The kalam's line of reasoning maintains that the series of past events cannot be infinite but rather is finite. Since the universe could not have come into being uncaused, there must be a transcendent cause of the universe's beginning, a conclusion supportive of theism. This anthology on the philosophical arguments for the finitude of the past asks: Is an infinite series of past events metaphysically possible? Should actual infinites be restricted to theoretical mathematics, or can an actual infinite exist in the concrete world? These essays by kalam proponents and detractors engage in lively debate about the nature of infinity and its conundrums; about frequently-used kalam argument paradoxes of Tristram Shandy, the Grim Reaper, and Hilbert's Hotel; and about the infinity of the future.

Aquinas’ Proofs for God’s Existence

Aquinas’ Proofs for God’s Existence PDF Author: D. Bonnette
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401023808
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
The purpose of this study is to investigate the legitimacy of the principle, "The per accidens necessarily implies the per se," as it is found in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Special emphasis will be placed upon the function of this principle in the proofs for God's existence. The relevance of the principle in this latter context can be seen at once when it is observed that it is the key to the solution of the well known "prob lem of infinite regress. " The investigation of the principle in question will be divided into two Parts. A preliminary examination of the function of the principle will be made in Part I: Domains Other Than That of Creature-God. The domains to be considered in this Part are those of accident-substance, change, and knowledge. Employing what is learned of the function of the principle in these areas of application, Part II: The Domain of Creature-God will analyze the role of the principle in the proofs for God's existence. This latter Part will constitute the greater portion of the book, since the domain of creatures in their relation to God is the most significant application of the principle in the writings of St. Thomas. In the course of this investigation, relevant analyses by St. Thomas' commentators - both classical and contemporary - will be considered. Finally, in light of the insights offered by St.

God and the Mathematics of Infinity

God and the Mathematics of Infinity PDF Author: H. Chris Ransford
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 3838270193
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description
Drawing on the science and mathematics of infinity, H. Chris Ransford analyzes the traditional concept of godhood and reaches surprising conclusions. He addresses humankind's abiding core debate on the meaning of spirituality and God. Using mathematics, he explores key questions within this debate: for instance, why does evil exist if there is a God? The book fastidiously does not take sides nor proffers opinions, it only follows allowable mathematics wherever it leads. By doing so, it makes a major contribution to an understanding of the nature of reality.