PREVIEW-Episode 43: Arguments for the Existence of God
Summary: Discussing the arguments by Descartes, St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, William Paley, Kant, and others, as analyzed in J.L. Mackie's The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God (1983), chapters 1-3, 5-6, 8, and 11.<br> This is a 33-minute preview of our vintage 1 hr, 43-minute episode which you can buy at <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/product/ep-43-god-existence/" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/store</a> or <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2011/09/15/ep43-god-existence-citizen/" target="_blank">get for free</a> with PEL Citizenship (see <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership</a>). You can also purchase the full episode in the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/episode-43-arguments-for-existence/id1043399909" target="_blank">iTunes Store</a>: Search for "Partially Examined Existence God" and look under "Albums."<br> Are the ontological, cosmological, and teleological (argument from design) arguments for God's existence any good? Mackie, a very sharp analytic philosopher well hooked into recent advances in philosophy of science, says no. He's chiefly responding to his Oxford colleague, Richard Swinburne, who takes a very rationalist approach to God, taking the concept of God to be wholly simple and intelligible and providing a superior scientific explanation for, e.g. the beginning of the universe than the brute fact of an ultimately uncaused physical universe. <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2011/08/09/topic-for-43-arguments-for-the-existence-of-god/" target="_blank">Read more about the topic</a>.<br> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019824682X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019824682X&linkCode=as2&tag=theparexalif-20&linkId=4OM337OSBTYFDVNY" target="_blank">Buy the book</a> For more detail on Swinburne, read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019958043X/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theparexalif-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=019958043X" target="_blank"></a><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019958043X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019958043X&linkCode=as2&tag=theparexalif-20&linkId=EZSDGCHNUWLKHFLX" target="_blank">Is There a God?</a> (1996).<br> Mark, Seth, and Wes are joined by <a href="http://outsideofeden.squarespace.com/about-me/">groovy South African theist blogger</a> Robert Scott.<br> End song: "I Believe," by Mark Lint (2011). <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2011/09/15/partially-naked-self-examination-music-blog-i-believe/" target="_blank">Read about it</a>.<br>
