Philosophers
This philosopher responded to the problem of evil by arguing that we cannot fully understand God’s plan, and that a planet without natural evils could not exist
Who is Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz?
arguments with conclusion that follow necessarily from the premises
What are deductive arguments?
First introduced by Anselm, this argument for God’s existence begins with the claim “Nothing greater than God can be conceived”
What is the ontological argument?
This position on free will holds that free will exists and that it cannot be reconciled with determinism
What is libertarianism?
Descartes compared imagining God without perfection to imagining this geometric figure without three sides
What is a triangle?
This medieval philosopher argued "Five Ways" for the existence of God including the First Mover and First Cause cosmological arguments
Who is Thomas Aquinas?
This type of argument doesn’t require all true premises but must have a logically correct structure
What is a valid argument?
Associated with Aquinas, this version of the cosmological argument holds that every event must have been caused by a prior event, and that God must be the first
What is the First Cause Argument?
Spinoza and Pereboom defend this view, which denies free will in a deterministic universe
What is hard determinism?
Paley’s design argument claims that if you found this foreign object in the forest, you would naturally wonder who designed it
What is a pocket watch?
When his belief in God led to him overcoming depression, this philosopher concluded that sometimes it can be rational to believe in something without sufficient evidence
Who is William James?
“I have never liked any coffee, so I will probably not like the taste of yours” is an example of this kind of reasoning
What is inductive reasoning?
Named after its French creator, the argument that you should gamble on the belief in God, as the potential upside is so big
What is Pascal's Wager?
Semicompatibilist Fischer claims that even if free will and determinism are uncertain, this still remains compatible with a deterministic universe
What is moral responsibility?
To show why it is immoral to believe without sufficient evidence, Clifford uses an analogy of a careless owner of this mode of transportation that leads to disaster
What is an old ship?
This compatibilist argued that it doesn't matter whether our world is deterministic or indeterministic, it's better to believe we have free will because it will motivate us to behave morally
Who is Daniel Dennett?
When evaluating inductive arguments, we must always keep in mind this principle which acknowledges the possibility of error
What is falibilism?
When critiquing the design argument, Hume raised this challenge that questioned how an all-powerful, all-good God could permit suffering in the world
What is the problem of evil?
Named after its creator, this thought experiment shows that someone can be morally responsible even if they could not have done otherwise
What is a Frankfurt Case?
In response to Anselm’s ontological argument, Gaunilo argued that using Anselm's logic, if he were able to imagine the perfect this, then it also must exist
What is a perfect island?
This libertarian argued that free will requires indeterministic “self-forming actions” that shape our character and give us moral responsibility
Who is Robert Kane?
When discussing the flaws of the cosmological argument, Russell argues that assuming the entire universe has a cause just because every individual thing has a cause is committing this logical fallacy
What is fallacy of composition?
Leibniz distinguished necessary beings from these dependent beings, like humans and animals, that could have failed to exist
What are contingent beings?
According to Galen Strawson, we could only be truly responsible if we were this, which would allow us to have chosen our own preferences, values, upbringing, and reasoning abilities
What is self-caused?
Pereboom's argument against compatibilism that involves four scenarios of increasing manipulation of Professor Plum’s decision to kill Ms. White
What is the Manipulation Argument/Four Case Argument? (doesn't really fit the category :P)