Religion

Can the existence of god be proven?

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These days, there are very

These days, there are very few substantial claims (God exists, there are objectively true ethical values, utilitarianism is superior to Kantian ethics, everything is physical, etc) that philosophers would claim to be able to prove (or disprove). We instead refer to there being good or bad reasons or arguments for various positions, sometimes ranking these reasons and arguments as persuasive / cogent / even compelling versus unpersuasive / weak/ confused, etc.... It would be very hard to come up with a percentage of philosophers living today (or throughout history) who have thought that there are strong reasons for recognizing the reality of God; such a task would also need to take seriously the different concepts of God that philosophers have explored and affirmed. I am a theist (believe God exists) and believe that there are good grounds for theism, while at the same time recognizing that there are good reasons for atheism, agnosticism, and embracing different concepts of the divine. For a good overview of the arguments, see the Stanford Encyclopedia entry, Philosophy of Religion.

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