1. al-Ghazali and Averroës’ conceptions of divine knowledge differ in significant ways. So much so that Averroës considered it appropriate to compose a document naming al-Ghazali’s thoughts as incoherent. Their concepts of causality led each to hold differing views of God. For al-Ghazali, God is the first cause from which all creation necessitates according to His will. al-Ghazali asserts that God created the world out of nothing, creatio ex nihilo, and that God is the agent of true action. He argues that the world is not eternal, but created. (Incoherence of the Philsophers, prob.3 pg.69) In Discussion 17, Ghazali asserts that God’s action of creation is the first cause of all things. For it is from God’s will, not His essence, that all creation necessitates. al-Ghazali, also makes it quite apparent that God’s will is different …show more content…
ibn-Bajja’s theory of intellect can be defined as his theory of how people grasp the forms. He defines intellect as being the soul fully developed. (CAP, Conjunction of the Intellect with Man, pg.274, 12) This concept of the intellect being soul is essential to his theory because it is directly connected to the immortality of the soul. Only the happy are immortal and they are one-- meaning that there is no individual salvation. (CAP, Conjunction of the Intellect with Man, pg.281, 30) Its seminal characteristic is the three category system into which he divides people. The first category, the masses, is composed of people who obtain knowledge by their physical, external senses. These people do not ever come to know real truth because of their inability to understand things in their true nature. The second category, the theorists, use their internal senses to obtain knowledge. The third category, the happy, use reason to gain knowledge. (CAP, Conjunction of the Intellect with Man, pg.278-279, 25. . .) The happy are those who obtain immortality because of their access to true knowledge. Only those who use reason are ever truly
...objects and gods differ only in degree and not in kind''. From a Logical Point of View (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953), p. 44.
he comes to term with three certainties: the existence of the mind as the thing that thinks,
St. Thomas Aquinas presents five arguments to demonstrate the existence of God. However, this paper focuses on the fifth argument. The fifth argument is regarded as the Teleological Argument and states that things that lack intelligence act for some end or purpose. While the fifth argument satisfies God’s existence for Aquinas, some contemporary readers would argue that Aquinas neglects the laws of physics. Others argue that Aquinas allows a loophole in his argument so that the Catholic conception of God is not the only intelligent designer.
However, each writer conveys the same message by providing the reader separate accounts of God’s works. In Taylor’s “From God’s Determinations”, Taylor explains how God is the creator of all things. He explains that he created the Earth, the sun, the moon, and the overall universe. In short, Taylor believes that God is the grand architect of his reality. From the information that is provided, one can infer that God, who is a supernatural being, has played a huge role in his life. According to Taylor’s writing, God is probably the one who Taylor believe, is responsible for breathing the gift of life into him in the first
He suggests that the physical substance (body) and mental substance (mind) are different in nature from each other. He believes that what we see could possibly be deceiving us and that this world might just be a dream.
All of the above examples such as the wax and excluding everything that exists go back to the intellect of being a thinking thing that stands alone and Cogito inference in which it registers the sufficient grounds. The ‘I’ that he finally answers is who he is in the end when he says he long held beliefs that cannot be put aside. This is the ‘I’ that he now knows and claims to be the one that can doubt and be deceived by himself and others that are powerful such as God that allows him to believe he truly exist with or without a body and only being a thinking
The growth of religious ideas is environed with such intrinsic difficulties that it may never receive a perfectly satisfactory exposition. Religion deals so largely with the imaginative and emotional nature, and consequently with such an certain elements of knowledge, the all primitive religions are grotesque to some extent unintelligible. (1877:5)
Al-Ghazali started his first argument by stating that historically, there are three philosophical perceptions on the past eternity of the world. The most generally held point is that of maintaining (the world’s) earlier eternity: that it has never stopped to be present with God, glorified be He, being a consequence of His, to prevail along with Him, and not being subsequent to Him over time (Jackson, 2002). Another position that is related to Plato, proposed that the world was created and
With the passing of the notable ancient Greek greats, a new era in philosophy emerged. The Medieval period fostered an outburst of Islamic culture and thought, with many significant philosophers leading the way. Amongst these was Averroes, who thrived during the early 12th century. His many areas of interest allowed him to be a very learned and experienced individual, enabling him to produce many publications elaborating his thoughts. One of these publications is The Decisive Treatise, in which he discusses the role that philosophy plays in religion and how that impacts society. According to Averroes, in The Decisive Treatise, philosophy is a required part of religion that provides educated individuals with a deeper understanding of sacred texts.
of Gods existence. The factors that go into their views on reason will be compared and accented within this essay. The order of the universe is knowable to Descartes. He proves these by
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
Through out history there have been questions of where we come from and how we got here. It all comes down to the question of God’s existence. God’s existence has never been questioned during the times of when Christianity, Judaism and Islam were born. The question of God’s existence comes from our new way of thinking after these religions. Science has made us think of how things work in our world and brings Gods existence into question. There were no scientific studies done during the days of Jesus to prove that God exists, so where did the people in history get this idea of God from? Many philosophers have been questioning and giving their ideas of God and his existence. The ideas that we may have of God is usually connected with religion and our beliefs. One philosopher that touches on this topic is Descartes. Descartes gives his ideas on God’s existence and his out look on our selves compared to God. Most religions believe that there is a God and that he has created everything around us. Everyone has a different answer to this question that they think is the right one. Throughout this paper, I will be discussing God’s existence, while looking at Descartes ideas and through different perspectives of whether or not God exist as well.
Regarding the crux of studies in Gnosticism, most modern scholars agree that “the most significant discovery was the cache of papyrus books found in 1945 near Nag Hammadi” (King 6). In this collection of writings we find a variety of mystical and mythological treatments of Christ and Christianity. The word Gnosticism is not used formally as a way of categorizing these writings. Rather, the word gnosis, Greek for knowledge, has come to represent a body of extracurricular Christian documents that tend to focus on personal mystical experience as opposed to official doctrines of salvation.
The problem of evil is a lasting philosophical problem that goes back as far as Epicurus. Aquinas believes that the problem of evil is not a proper question to be asking because those asking it are not taking into account God’s nature. However, I maintain that Aquinas’s philosophy does not refute the problem of evil. To illustrate this I will raise three objections to Aquinas. First, I will show that although Aquinas is not attempting a theodicy, his arguments lead him into a position where one must defend how God can exist in a world with evil. Next, I will argue that moral agency is required for goodness. Then, I will contend that the problem of evil requires a moral justification.
In this paper I will be exploring two arguments on the topic of the existence of God. In particular, I will focus on Saint Thomas Aquinas’s efficient causation argument for God’s existence and an objection to it from Bertrand Russell. After an analysis of Aquinas’s argument and a presentation of Russell’s objection, I will show how Russell’s objection fails.