Philosophy Of Religion: Main Topics

and effect. It is based on the assumption that there cannot be an infinite series of cause-effect relations since that would never be exhaustible making it impossible to arrive at the present; therefore, the universe must have a cause which is uncaused and this uncaused cause of the universe is God. The teleological argument is the argument from order and design in the world. It contends that only the existence of an intelligent designer can explain the order and design of things in the universe. This intelligent designer, it claims, is God.

Critics have pointed out that the arguments for God’s existence are inadequate explanations. For instance, Hume pointed out that the cosmological argument is based on the unproven premise that effects follow cause, while the teleological argument at the most can prove that the great designer is an imperfect being. He argued that polytheism is more easily inferable from the design argument than monotheism. In his words, ‘‘A great number of men join in building a house or ship, in rearing a city, in framing a commonwealth; why may not several deities combine in contriving and framing a world?’ In the same way, Kant saw in the classical arguments nothing but mental jumbles that disclosed nothing about reality. In fact, Kantian skepticism doesn’t permit any proof that points beyond phenomena. In recent times, however, Christian philosophers such as Alvin Platinga have argued that belief of God can be regarded as a foundational belief that doesn’t even demand a proof, since it is basic.

2. Immortality

Immortality refers to the indestructible quality of the human soul. According to Plato, the fact that all knowledge is recollection is proof that the soul is immortal though

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