Thomas Holden
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579945
- eISBN:
- 9780191722776
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579945.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This book presents an historical and critical interpretation of Hume's rejection of the existence of a deity with moral attributes. It argues that in Hume's view no first cause or designer ...
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This book presents an historical and critical interpretation of Hume's rejection of the existence of a deity with moral attributes. It argues that in Hume's view no first cause or designer responsible for the ordered universe could possibly have moral attributes; nor could the existence (or non-existence) of such a being have any real implications for human practice or conduct. Hume's case for this ‘moral atheism’ is a central plank of both his naturalistic agenda in metaphysics and his secularizing program in moral theory. It complements his wider critique of traditional theism, and threatens to rule out any religion that would make claims on moral practice. This book situates Hume's commitment to moral atheism in its historical and philosophical context, offers a systematic interpretation of his case for divine amorality, and shows how Hume can endorse moral atheism while maintaining his sceptical attitude toward traditional forms of cosmological and theological speculation.Less
This book presents an historical and critical interpretation of Hume's rejection of the existence of a deity with moral attributes. It argues that in Hume's view no first cause or designer responsible for the ordered universe could possibly have moral attributes; nor could the existence (or non-existence) of such a being have any real implications for human practice or conduct. Hume's case for this ‘moral atheism’ is a central plank of both his naturalistic agenda in metaphysics and his secularizing program in moral theory. It complements his wider critique of traditional theism, and threatens to rule out any religion that would make claims on moral practice. This book situates Hume's commitment to moral atheism in its historical and philosophical context, offers a systematic interpretation of his case for divine amorality, and shows how Hume can endorse moral atheism while maintaining his sceptical attitude toward traditional forms of cosmological and theological speculation.
C. Stephen Evans
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199217168
- eISBN:
- 9780191712401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217168.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter argues that a theistic natural sign pointing to God's existence lies at the core of cosmological arguments; this sign is called “cosmic wonder” and is sometimes elicited by considering ...
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This chapter argues that a theistic natural sign pointing to God's existence lies at the core of cosmological arguments; this sign is called “cosmic wonder” and is sometimes elicited by considering questions like “Why is there something rather than nothing?” The author first explains some of the different types of the cosmological arguments, argues that the Easy Resistibility Principle explains why we should not be surprised that they fail as conclusive proofs, and considers the thesis that Cosmic Wonder is the source of the persistent intuition that undergirds the arguments. Finally, it is argued that traditional theists, non‐traditional theists, and non‐theists often sense the force of Cosmic Wonder. This fact indicates that it is widely accessible as a sign.Less
This chapter argues that a theistic natural sign pointing to God's existence lies at the core of cosmological arguments; this sign is called “cosmic wonder” and is sometimes elicited by considering questions like “Why is there something rather than nothing?” The author first explains some of the different types of the cosmological arguments, argues that the Easy Resistibility Principle explains why we should not be surprised that they fail as conclusive proofs, and considers the thesis that Cosmic Wonder is the source of the persistent intuition that undergirds the arguments. Finally, it is argued that traditional theists, non‐traditional theists, and non‐theists often sense the force of Cosmic Wonder. This fact indicates that it is widely accessible as a sign.
Thomas Holden
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579945
- eISBN:
- 9780191722776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579945.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter documents and examines Hume's account of the implications of his deterministic ‘doctrine of necessity’ for the moral status of any first cause or designer. There are two main ...
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This chapter documents and examines Hume's account of the implications of his deterministic ‘doctrine of necessity’ for the moral status of any first cause or designer. There are two main conclusions. First, Hume embraces the argument from determinism against duties to God. According to this argument, if there is some such original cause or designer, then it has in effect foreordained every human action, and so cannot reasonably be aggrieved at or offended by those actions. For Hume, the deity cannot then enter into the sort of moralized relations that presuppose the possibility of legitimate grievance or moral offense, and we cannot owe duties to God. Second, it is also argued that, contrary to a popular line of interpretation, Hume's determinism does not commit him to the conclusion that the first cause is the author of our sins in any sense that need compromise the deity's moral character.Less
This chapter documents and examines Hume's account of the implications of his deterministic ‘doctrine of necessity’ for the moral status of any first cause or designer. There are two main conclusions. First, Hume embraces the argument from determinism against duties to God. According to this argument, if there is some such original cause or designer, then it has in effect foreordained every human action, and so cannot reasonably be aggrieved at or offended by those actions. For Hume, the deity cannot then enter into the sort of moralized relations that presuppose the possibility of legitimate grievance or moral offense, and we cannot owe duties to God. Second, it is also argued that, contrary to a popular line of interpretation, Hume's determinism does not commit him to the conclusion that the first cause is the author of our sins in any sense that need compromise the deity's moral character.
Norman Kretzmann
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199246533
- eISBN:
- 9780191597886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924653X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Without a good argument as yet for the existence of God or anything else that might count as the universal first source of being and assuming that there is an answer to the question, why is there ...
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Without a good argument as yet for the existence of God or anything else that might count as the universal first source of being and assuming that there is an answer to the question, why is there this sort of world rather than another sort, or nothing at all—the working hypothesis is adopted that there is an ultimate explanatory principle. Aquinas's arguments that focus on immutability and causality are examined. Aquinas expressly grants the possibility of an infinite regress of generating causes, but denies it with sustaining causes. He assumes or considers self‐evident, some form of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. We arrive at an entity that can and must be identified with an altogether immutable, beginningless, endless, and independently existing entity ‘necessary through itself’, first cause, first mover, first sustainer, and first necessary being.Less
Without a good argument as yet for the existence of God or anything else that might count as the universal first source of being and assuming that there is an answer to the question, why is there this sort of world rather than another sort, or nothing at all—the working hypothesis is adopted that there is an ultimate explanatory principle. Aquinas's arguments that focus on immutability and causality are examined. Aquinas expressly grants the possibility of an infinite regress of generating causes, but denies it with sustaining causes. He assumes or considers self‐evident, some form of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. We arrive at an entity that can and must be identified with an altogether immutable, beginningless, endless, and independently existing entity ‘necessary through itself’, first cause, first mover, first sustainer, and first necessary being.
Norman Kretzmann
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199246533
- eISBN:
- 9780191597886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924653X.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Identifying an acknowledged first cause as God requires further argumentation to show that this extraordinary entity must have characteristics that pick out the supreme being of the monotheistic ...
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Identifying an acknowledged first cause as God requires further argumentation to show that this extraordinary entity must have characteristics that pick out the supreme being of the monotheistic tradition and to show that it must be the transcendent, personal, omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good creator, and governor of the universe. By means of the exclusive application of the eliminative method to an immutable first cause, Aquinas's account leads to eliminating the distinction between its nature and being, to its essential nature being identical with its own unique, necessary, and ultimately explanatory being. Through Aquinas's perfection argument, the ultimately explanatory being is also shown to be universally perfect.Less
Identifying an acknowledged first cause as God requires further argumentation to show that this extraordinary entity must have characteristics that pick out the supreme being of the monotheistic tradition and to show that it must be the transcendent, personal, omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good creator, and governor of the universe. By means of the exclusive application of the eliminative method to an immutable first cause, Aquinas's account leads to eliminating the distinction between its nature and being, to its essential nature being identical with its own unique, necessary, and ultimately explanatory being. Through Aquinas's perfection argument, the ultimately explanatory being is also shown to be universally perfect.
John J. O’Meara
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198266747
- eISBN:
- 9780191683084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198266747.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter presents a summary of Books I and II of Eriugena’s main work, Periphyseon. Book I deals with the fourfold division of universal nature. The subject of Book II is the procession of the ...
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This chapter presents a summary of Books I and II of Eriugena’s main work, Periphyseon. Book I deals with the fourfold division of universal nature. The subject of Book II is the procession of the creatures from the one First Cause of all things through the primordial essences (which were created before all things by itself in itself through itself) into the various genera of nature and the various forms and individuals extending to infinity.Less
This chapter presents a summary of Books I and II of Eriugena’s main work, Periphyseon. Book I deals with the fourfold division of universal nature. The subject of Book II is the procession of the creatures from the one First Cause of all things through the primordial essences (which were created before all things by itself in itself through itself) into the various genera of nature and the various forms and individuals extending to infinity.
Devin Stauffer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226552903
- eISBN:
- 9780226553061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226553061.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter considers Hobbes’s treatment of religion in the early chapters of Leviathan, especially in Chapter 12, “Of Religion.” In that chapter, Hobbes presents an account of the psychological ...
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This chapter considers Hobbes’s treatment of religion in the early chapters of Leviathan, especially in Chapter 12, “Of Religion.” In that chapter, Hobbes presents an account of the psychological “seed” of religion in anxiety and ignorance, an account of God as the mysterious first cause, an analysis of the political differences between pagan religion and biblical religion, and a sketch of the “resolution” of religion back into its first seeds. An examination of these argument brings to light key aspects of Hobbes’s critique of religion and provides evidence of his atheism and antireligious intentions in Leviathan.Less
This chapter considers Hobbes’s treatment of religion in the early chapters of Leviathan, especially in Chapter 12, “Of Religion.” In that chapter, Hobbes presents an account of the psychological “seed” of religion in anxiety and ignorance, an account of God as the mysterious first cause, an analysis of the political differences between pagan religion and biblical religion, and a sketch of the “resolution” of religion back into its first seeds. An examination of these argument brings to light key aspects of Hobbes’s critique of religion and provides evidence of his atheism and antireligious intentions in Leviathan.
Peter J. Steinberger
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231163545
- eISBN:
- 9780231535205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231163545.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter refutes the atheist's claim that God doesn't exist. Under the logic of cause and effect, the world, if it exists, must have had a cause. The existence of the world absolutely requires ...
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This chapter refutes the atheist's claim that God doesn't exist. Under the logic of cause and effect, the world, if it exists, must have had a cause. The existence of the world absolutely requires that there was a First Cause—an Unmoved Mover, God—that caused the world to exist in the first place. In a sense, we cannot not believe in God. Atheism is simply unavailable to us. No one in his right mind can truly be an atheist. Theism—the belief in God—is equally unavailable to us. Because if God did exist—a First Cause or an Unmoved Mover—then under the logic of cause and effect something or someone must have caused it to exist. And if something caused it to exist, then it cannot have been the First Cause or Unmoved Mover or God. The thing that caused it came first, but that thing must itself have been caused by something else; and so on, ad infinitum. So God simply cannot exist. The impossibility of atheism is matched by the impossibility of theism.Less
This chapter refutes the atheist's claim that God doesn't exist. Under the logic of cause and effect, the world, if it exists, must have had a cause. The existence of the world absolutely requires that there was a First Cause—an Unmoved Mover, God—that caused the world to exist in the first place. In a sense, we cannot not believe in God. Atheism is simply unavailable to us. No one in his right mind can truly be an atheist. Theism—the belief in God—is equally unavailable to us. Because if God did exist—a First Cause or an Unmoved Mover—then under the logic of cause and effect something or someone must have caused it to exist. And if something caused it to exist, then it cannot have been the First Cause or Unmoved Mover or God. The thing that caused it came first, but that thing must itself have been caused by something else; and so on, ad infinitum. So God simply cannot exist. The impossibility of atheism is matched by the impossibility of theism.
Devin Stauffer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226552903
- eISBN:
- 9780226553061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226553061.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter discusses Hobbes’s account of “the kingdom of God by nature” in Chapter 31 of Leviathan. Hobbes here develops a new natural theology that contains an implicit critique of traditional ...
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This chapter discusses Hobbes’s account of “the kingdom of God by nature” in Chapter 31 of Leviathan. Hobbes here develops a new natural theology that contains an implicit critique of traditional natural theology. The chapter considers Hobbes’s arguments about the limits of what human beings can know about God, and it examines Hobbes’s doctrine of God as the first cause and its complex relationship to Hobbes’s mechanistic materialism. The ultimate argument of the chapter is that Hobbes did not think the existence of God could be either demonstrated or refuted by reason alone. The chapter therefore points ahead to the following chapter, which considers Hobbes’s confrontation with Scripture.Less
This chapter discusses Hobbes’s account of “the kingdom of God by nature” in Chapter 31 of Leviathan. Hobbes here develops a new natural theology that contains an implicit critique of traditional natural theology. The chapter considers Hobbes’s arguments about the limits of what human beings can know about God, and it examines Hobbes’s doctrine of God as the first cause and its complex relationship to Hobbes’s mechanistic materialism. The ultimate argument of the chapter is that Hobbes did not think the existence of God could be either demonstrated or refuted by reason alone. The chapter therefore points ahead to the following chapter, which considers Hobbes’s confrontation with Scripture.
M.K. Raghavendra
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199450565
- eISBN:
- 9780199083091
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450565.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Kaminey is intended as a ‘dark’ film about criminality in everyday urban life and teems with gangsters, drug dealers, and crooked politicians, but the curiously celebratory approach of the film ...
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Kaminey is intended as a ‘dark’ film about criminality in everyday urban life and teems with gangsters, drug dealers, and crooked politicians, but the curiously celebratory approach of the film leaves one in doubt about the darkness of its vision, especially considering the endorsement of illegality in many of the earlier films as a legitimate component of enterprise. The film traces the trajectory of urban crime in Hindi cinema and examines how the film is different from Satya (1998) or Deewar (1975). It provides evidence that the weakening state has actually represented ‘opportunity’ to many from the entrepreneurial classes and this is fundamentally the discourse in its celebrations.Less
Kaminey is intended as a ‘dark’ film about criminality in everyday urban life and teems with gangsters, drug dealers, and crooked politicians, but the curiously celebratory approach of the film leaves one in doubt about the darkness of its vision, especially considering the endorsement of illegality in many of the earlier films as a legitimate component of enterprise. The film traces the trajectory of urban crime in Hindi cinema and examines how the film is different from Satya (1998) or Deewar (1975). It provides evidence that the weakening state has actually represented ‘opportunity’ to many from the entrepreneurial classes and this is fundamentally the discourse in its celebrations.
A. E. Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- October 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190246365
- eISBN:
- 9780190246396
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190246365.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
A. E. Taylor argued at length against an artificial dichotomy between fact and value, in an effort to carve out evidential space for morality. Divorcing facts and values is like trying to separate ...
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A. E. Taylor argued at length against an artificial dichotomy between fact and value, in an effort to carve out evidential space for morality. Divorcing facts and values is like trying to separate the sounds of a great symphony from its musical quality. More important than what we do is who we are, and what’s needed is an adequate account for the sort of external assistance we desperately require to be radically transformed (even transfigured)—after all, Taylor said, we can’t pull ourselves up by our own hair—so we can enjoy a good never left behind and never superseded. The inherent features of moral guilt point in the direction of a personal and perfectly loving God as our first and final cause. Taylor counseled close and sustained attentiveness to the moral evidence and (as we’ve seen in others) modeled a laudably expansive epistemology.Less
A. E. Taylor argued at length against an artificial dichotomy between fact and value, in an effort to carve out evidential space for morality. Divorcing facts and values is like trying to separate the sounds of a great symphony from its musical quality. More important than what we do is who we are, and what’s needed is an adequate account for the sort of external assistance we desperately require to be radically transformed (even transfigured)—after all, Taylor said, we can’t pull ourselves up by our own hair—so we can enjoy a good never left behind and never superseded. The inherent features of moral guilt point in the direction of a personal and perfectly loving God as our first and final cause. Taylor counseled close and sustained attentiveness to the moral evidence and (as we’ve seen in others) modeled a laudably expansive epistemology.
Leslie Stevenson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- October 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190066109
- eISBN:
- 9780190066130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190066109.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
In medieval times a metaphysical conception of God was developed from Greek and Islamic ideas. According to this, God is the unchangeable necessary being who is the ultimate cause for everything that ...
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In medieval times a metaphysical conception of God was developed from Greek and Islamic ideas. According to this, God is the unchangeable necessary being who is the ultimate cause for everything that contingently happens in the world. This chapter raises some doubts about the intelligibility of this conception.Less
In medieval times a metaphysical conception of God was developed from Greek and Islamic ideas. According to this, God is the unchangeable necessary being who is the ultimate cause for everything that contingently happens in the world. This chapter raises some doubts about the intelligibility of this conception.
