Topics Religion

Question There have been many arguments that are offered in support of the proposition that God exists. So far, it seems that none of them have been compelling. Do you think that any possible argument offered as establishing a conclusion like 'God exists', could be compelling. That is, could there exist an argument such that it's conclusion is 'God exists' and the argument is compelling? If no such argument could possibly be compelling, can we not just infer that no argument offered as establishing the existence of God is compelling? Or, do you think one (an argument) exists that may be compelling when learned by us?

Accepted:
July 22, 2008

Comments

If by "compelling" you mean something like "beyond reasonable doubt," then the answer is almost certainly no. But that hardly makes arguments about God's existence unique. The claim that God exists has at least this in common with philosophical claims in general: there's plenty of room to argue both sides.

On the other hand, if the question is whether there might be arguments for believing in God that some people might find convincing without lapsing into irrationality, then the answer is almost certainly yes. But once again, that hardly makes claims about God's existence unique. Pick more or less anything that philosophers disagree about. You'll find that some sane philosophers are convinced by arguments that others don't find persuasive.

Can someone reasonably find an argument persuasive even if they realize that there are unanswered objections to it? If the standard of reasonableness is one that humans can meet, the answer is also yes. One reason is that there are two ways to think of objections. One way is as refutations. Another is as problems to be solved. Perhaps this nagging objection will eventually prove fatal to my view. Or perhaps with some ingenuity, I or someone else will find a convincing reply. Reasonable people can and do differ about which cases are which. In fact, the fact that they do is one of the things that keeps philosophers and other sorts of theoreticians in business!