On Being An Atheist Mccloskey Analysis

One burning and enduring problem in philosophy to which we have given considerable examination is the question of the existence of God--the superlative being that philosophers have defined and dealt with for centuries. After reading the classic arguments of St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas, the contentious assertions of Ernest Nagel, and the compelling eyewitness accounts of Julian of Norwich, I have been introduced to some of the most revered and referenced arguments for and against God's existence that have been put into text. All of them are well-thought and well-articulated arguments, but they have their holes. The question of God's true existence, therefore, is still not definitively answered and put to rest; the intensity of this

During the 1670s, the government of Virginia's own Governor William Berkeley became hated by many citizens who didn’t like any of his rules.He had a rule in place that stated you must own land to be able to vote, he had taxes that had people paying so much money some people were going poor, and obvious avoidance of the war between the Native Americans and them. By that I mean that Berkeley had absolutely no interest in protecting his own citizens from the savage Indian attacks that happened every now and then, he only wanted to protect himself. Many citizens of Virginia, the majority being indentured servants, thought the governor would be extremely selfish and not protect anyone in the account of a brutal attack. Then Nathaniel Bacon, a relative

The next three chapters, Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine, cover the atheist and what manners of atheist there are and how Christians should interact with them. Chapter Seven apprises the reader on the different flavors of atheists. There are three different kinds of atheist people will come across. There are those who are angry at a God they don’t believe exist, so they tend to be more hostile towards religion. There are atheists who are not necessarily neutral, but don’t have an aggressive insolence towards religion. The last group are those who identify as an atheist because they are simply unaware of the evidence of God. Chapter Eight is about how science is not actually against theology, but instead it actually needs theology and is against atheism. It also shows the historical evidence of Jesus, a little bit on the gnostic gospels and what they really are, and miracles and the circular logic of atheist trying to shoot miracles down. The author in Chapter Nine informs the reader on how to interact with our atheist friends. Like in the earlier chapters, Cawley gives micro practices and meso practices. The micro practice in this chapter is question flipping. This is basically the practice of turning fractious questions into delightful answers, and instead of answering straight forward, its beating around the bush.

The issue that is unjustifiable in McCloskey’s argument as proofs is he dismisses the favor of God’s existence when the standard of “one hundred percent certainty is not reached” (Forman,2012). Instead of centering one focus on proving God’s existence, you must seek an accumulative case approach to explain the best case to God’s existence, which is streams of evidence to develop a strong case (Forman,2012). Proof and certainty are not always a reliable possibility, especially when it comes to our senses or scientific beliefs (Forman,2012). According to Evans and Manis “the failure to produce a proof of God’s existence does not necessarily mean that no one has any justified beliefs about God” (Evans & Manis, 2009, p. 61). The cosmological and teleological argument provides substantial amount of expositions for God existence meanwhile McCloskey’s arguments contradict themselves on the standard of proof that he

In the following paper, I will outline Samuel Clarke’s “Modern Formulation of the Cosmological Argument” and restate some of the points that he makes. Samuel Clarke’s argument for the existence of God states that “There has existed from eternity some one unchangeable and independent being” (37). The argument follows a logical flow and can be better understood when the structure is laid out and the argument reconstructed.

Having completed the unit of philosophy of religion, you are now ready to respond to an article written by an actual atheist.  This article, titled “On Being an Atheist,” was written by H. J. McCloskey in 1968 for the journal Question.  McCloskey is an Australian philosopher who wrote a number of atheistic works in the 1960s and 70s including the book God and Evil (Nijhoff, 1974). In this article, McCloskey is both critical of the classical arguments for God’s existence and offers the problem of evil as a reason why one should not believe in God.

HJ McCloskey is a proclaimed atheist. He presents lots of arguments including the belief of why there is no God. He also says that atheism is a more comfortable belief. He states that it is impossible for a higher power to create an imperfect world. McCloskey thinks that even if there was a maker than how can people be comforted by Him instead of blaming him for creating an imperfect world with evil and imperfections.

In his article, On Being an Atheist, H.J. McCloskey tried to show that atheism is a more reasonable and comfortable belief than that of Christianity.   McCloskey argued against the three theistic proofs, which are the cosmological argument, the teleological argument and the argument from design.   He pointed out the existence of evil in the world that God made.   He also pointed out that it is irrational to live by faith. According to McCloskey, proofs do not necessarily play a vital role in the belief of God.  Page 62 of the article states that "most theists do not come to believe in God as a basis for religious belief, but come to religion as a result of other reasons and factors."  However, he feels that as far as proofs serve theists,

H.J. McCloskey aimed to show that atheism is a more satisfying and justifiable belief than that of Christianity. He did so in his article entitled, On Being an Atheist. To construct this claim, he argued against the theistic proofs: the theological argument, the argument of design, and the cosmological argument. He calls for an acknowledgment of the existence of evil in the world and says that those who are theist “carry on as if the existence of evil in the world did not seriously tell against the perfection of the divine design” (McCloskey, 1968, p. 51). McCloskey also makes the claim that if faith and a God truly do exist, we must conclude that he is imperfect. Followers of Christianity are to be considered “irrational and foolish” for their

The bible mentions many people that God uses in order to do his work on earth, many of which were on earth even before Jesus was even born. Early on in the Old Testament there are multiple people that are considered very important to God and his work on earth. The people that God used did not have to have a special skill or be someone well-known because God does not care about the earthly things we have, so most of the people he used in the Old Testament were just regular people. Some of these people include Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Because of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam’s importance in the Old Testament we will discuss, each of them individually, which one God favors over the others, and why God favors that one person over the other two.

In this essay, I am going to argue that God exists. The three main concepts that I’m going to talk about which which are the problem of evil, the fine tuning argument and the moral argument. According to theism, God is: “that being which no greater is possible, and he is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent.”. By having a God who only desires good, and us living in a world where evil exists, it is logically impossible and that is what created the problem of evil. There are two sides of the problem of evil which are the logical and evidential argument. The logical side states that:

God? A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist The existence or otherwise of God has attracted a seeming countless debates from all classes of people mainly academics, comprising theologians, scientists and philosophers, not to mention laypersons. Consequently, this singular topic has generated many publications and reviews. Of particular interest are the two opposing views brilliantly presented by William Lane Craig, a popular Christian philosopher and apologist who is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College. There had been intense rounds of debate on the subject, prominent among which were the one at Dartmouth in 1999 and another at Wooddale Church in 2000. William Lane Craig believes, and firmly too, that God exists while Walter Sinnott-Armstrong would always want to convince his listeners that He does not. These opposing views and more are taken up in the 2003 popular and unique book, God? A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist. The uniqueness of the book, and in fact, its greatest strength can be found in the fact that it was co-authored by opponents, a christian and an atheist. What makes the book more interesting is that it represents the results of an actual debate, where each side not only presents its succinct and polite views but has the chance to actively respond to its opponent with some succinct theological and philosophical sophistication. While they arrive

The existence of God has been in question for as long as mankind has existed and thought logically. Many questions have plagued the human mind in regards to God, and there have been many arguments drawn with the hopes of proving the existence of a supreme being whom we know as God. The “God” question has been presented to every individual at some point in their lives. It is a topic that will bring forth never-ending questions and an equal amount of attempted answers. Many philosophers have formulated different rationales when examining the topic of God, some of which include how the word itself should be defined, what his role is in human existence, whether or not he loves us, and ultimately, if he even exists at all. Mankind cannot

In the article, “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey discusses the reasons of why he believes being an atheist is a more acceptable than Christianity. McCloskey believes that atheism is a more rational belief versus having a God who allows people to suffer so he can have the glory. He believes to live in this world, you must be comfortable. The introduction of his article, he implements an overview of arguments given by the theist, which he introduces as proofs. He claims that the proofs do not create a rationalization to believe that God exists. He provides 3 theist proofs, which are Cosmological argument, teleological argument, and the argument of design. He also mentions the presence of evil in the world. He focuses on the existence

There are three arguments for the existence of god the ontological, cosmological and religious experience. Ontological argument is for God is based on the ideas about nature of being, existence and reality. This argument is based entirely on reason. You shouldn’t have to go out and looking for physical evidence that God existence we can work out that God exists just by thinking about it. According to this argument God is perfection. God is all-powerful and something can’t be called God unless it is perfect.