Antony Flew's Argument Analysis

Gerald Graff is a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Graff, in his essay, emphasizes the importance for instructors to teach and increase enjoyable courses that students shall truly understand. Graff assures that all kids have hidden intellectualism trying to emerge from within, and as a teacher he feels partly accountable to help those kids develop their competencies in educational work. The essence of Graff’s argument is for students to know that intellectualism lurks within them all, and they need to implement their potential at school. Furthermore, he enriches the essay based totally on his own life experiences, along with his hidden intellectualism, while he attended school during the anti-intellectualism

A strong written argument is supported by several methods that are used to legitimize the author’s position as well as to discredit any counterargument brought forth. The techniques include introducing a counterargument and weakening it’s position with evidence. Providing legitimate academic research such as statistics as well as anecdotes from scholars on the given subject can reinforce the author’s argument. Another important method used is requiring the reader to critically think about a subject brought forth by challenging their preconceived ideas about a topic. This may also include using hidden assumptions that use implicit statements which have a certain opinion such as “If I follow the rules, good things will happen”, this is common

Since the dawn of mankind, clusters of innovations throughout history have allowed for societal progression at an explosive rate. While primarily fostering a centrifugal system of advancements; humans’ interests in expansion is spiraling out of control. Throughout history elements of collapse can be traced through civilizations and natural resources. Wright’s argument posits humans have hyperextended their utilization of resources at a rate that cannot be replenished, therein by setting up the world for the largest ecological collapse in history (Wright, 2004, pg. 130-131). Due to the cyclical process of past collapse and reformation humans have an advantage to rectify our current consumption rates ultimately avoiding a fate similar to past societies (Wright, 2004, pg. 131). As such Wright’s argument should frame larger discussions of responsible citizenship.

This essay features the discussion of the problem of evil in relation to the existence of god. Specifically outlining two sections where the problem of evil is discussed from atheist and theistic viewpoint.

The argument for the existence of God has been a debate for many centuries. God, in terms of philosophy, must be a supernatural being that: is all-knowing, is all-powerful, and is all-good. Theists believe God exists based on these terms; atheists on the other hand don’t believe in God. Atheists believe that if there is evil present in the universe, then there is no possible way God can exist if he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. Evil is defined in three different categories: human evil (evil we humans cause), natural evil (not in our control, of the Earth), and sufferings of the heart (not necessarily human/natural evil). The argument for the problem of evil is that God doesn’t exist because evil exists. In

Nicholas Carr Claimed that the internet affects our information processing. Carr backed up his argument by speaking with a wide array of educated and reputable people like friends, colleagues, a blogger, GMU and a professor making his argument validity greater. Carr admits that he and his friends also; have the same problem by saying that he was appealing to emotions by using Ethos.

That on October 02, 2015 I, CPL Lessane, was in the process of arresting the subject, Don Sharp., Don Sharp resisted the arrest, by attempting to shut the front door in Deputies face. Deputies then immediately gain entry inside the residence and attempted to place the subject under arrest. The subject then resisted by running in the living room swinging his arms in an up and down, side to side motion while swinging his arms towards Law Enforcement. Deputies did tased the subject to gain control of the subject. This incident did occur in Hampton County and is a violation of the South Carolina Code of Laws.

The argument over the existence of God is one that has been argued for centuries. In Evil and Omnipotence1, J.L. Mackie argues that an all-good, all powerful God is logically conflicting with the existence of evil, as the very reality of evil is enough to provide an argument against the existence of God. A form of his argument can be stated as: 1. If God exists, God is omnipotent. 2.

Does the problem of evil pose a challenge for theists and the existence of God? The problem of evil argues that there is so much suffering in the world that an all-good and all powerful God would not allow such suffering to exist. Therefore, a God with those characteristics does not exist. Unless the suffering is necessary for an adequate reason. Some people argue that suffering is necessary for there to be good and for us to able to understand what good is. In this paper, I will argue that suffering does not need to exist in order for good to exist, because the existence of good does not depend on suffering. I will then argue that good and suffering are not logical opposites. Finally, I will conclude that since evil is not justified, then the God that we defined does not exist.

An argument against the existence of God is based on the presence of evil in the world. This deductively valid argument is divided into two categories; human action and natural evil (Sober, 2005, p. 120). Human action discusses how experiences makes us better people, while natural evil are tragic events that are not under the control of humans. Each category is used as evidence to refute God as an all-powerful omniscient, omnibenevolent, or omnipotent being. In order to understand the strengths of this argument, it is important for an overall assessment of how the presence of evil questions if a Supreme Being actually exists, by arguing why a being of all-good would allow evil, importance of evil in a good world, and questioning God’s intervention in evil.

Mark Zepezauer’s article, “MK-Ultra from the Book the CIAs Greatest Hits” discusses the psychology experiment conducted by the CIA, MK-Ultra. The MK-ultra conducted a study that used mind control on their participants. Zepezauer recounts the events of the CIA tries to defend their stance by claiming they used the method in response to the brainwashing from the Chinese that was happening in the fifties. He says that mind control practices took place prior to 1953, but became popular after the experiment. He continues to explain how the CIA would use drugs, including LSD, and test them on their patients that were unaware of what tests were upon them. Zepezauer reveals that multiple suicides also took place in response to the given substances. He deliberated how the CIA rented out apartments and used prostitutes in their study. They used them to slip the drugs into their client’s pockets and the CIA would look through one-way mirrors to see the client’s response. Once the auditors discovered this, the MK-Ultra shut down and renamed the MKSEARCH. Mark Zepezauer

Curtis Silver advocates the need for parents to become more responsible of teaching their children values, morality, and logic. As a child of an engineer, Silver grew up learning how to tackle both simple and complex problems by using logic and reasoning. As a result, he believes that the opportunity to solve them by himself improved his critical thinking, which is why he encourages parents to also allow their children solve problems on their own. In order to strengthen his argument, he shares a personal anecdote of using his logic and reasoning to create a sound argument and reveal the truth that he did not have to pay the cost of repairs for a new transmission. This example is important to

The infamous atheist philosopher, Richard Dawkins, once said that the concept of God is a “delusion” and that it is “something people believe in despite a total lack of evidence.” I disagree with Dawkin’s statement as the existence of God can be proved by the existence of evil as one cannot exist without the other. I believe that the existence of evil proves that God exists as it was this argument that led former atheist; the Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis, to believe in the existence of God- “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else” a quote by C.S. Lewis (Lewis, Proof that God exists).

William Rowe defines gratuitous evil as an instance of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse.(Rowe 335) In a world with so much evil it raises the questions If God is all powerful, all knowing and all good, how can he allow bad things to happen to good people? Can God even exist in a world with so such gratuitous evil? These are questions that has afflicted humanity for a very long time and has been the question to engross theologians for centuries. The existence of evil has been the most influential and powerful reason to disprove the existence of God. It is believed among many theist that God is the creator and caretaker

Stephen Law conducted a thought experiment with a purpose of establishing the existence of an evil God, whereby he challenged those who believed in the presence of a kind and good God, doing nothing evil, and argued that the existent God is wicked indeed. The hypothesis developed into the challenge based on the argument that, if an omnibenevolent God is said to exist, yet there is so much evil in the world, then there is as well a possibility that an evil God exists, yet there is so much good. Law aimed to doubt not the fact of the existence of God, but the generally accepted assumption that the existing God is benevolent. Another researcher, Rowe, refutes this approach, arguing that the existence of a Supreme Being, who created people and hence cares for them, cannot be associated with evil. In fact, the presence of evil is a clear sign of the absence of a God. This paper seeks to take a position opposing to Law’s theory and prove that, despite the presence of evil, an omnibenevolent God still exists.