Explain the Irenaean Theodicy
. Explain the Irenaean Theodicy The problem of evil is a challenge to the existence of God due to his qualities of omnipotence, omnibenevolence and omniscience. It maintains that according to theists, God possesses all of these qualities, and indeed has to in order to exist, but that these qualities are inconsistent with the existence of evil and suffering in the world. Macke labelled the Problem of Evil a “logical problem” that faces all theists, and that they must be able to “solve” the problem in order to justify their beliefs. A theodicy is an attempt to do just that. The Irenaean Theodicy was set out by Irenaeus and does not attempt to deny the existence of evil, which is a criticism of the Augustinian Theodicy, and accepts that God created a world of both good and bad elements on purpose. Critics would say that this cannot be loving, but Irenaeus believed that in order to be loving God had to give humans freewill. This freewill is what leads to moral evil in the world; without freewill moral decisions would not truly be moral, as they would be the only option. This can be compared to Kant’s argument that ethical decisions can only be moral when made out of freedom. He uses evidence from the Bible, suggesting that when God sees what he has created and says it is “good” he does not mean that it is free from suffering, but serves its purpose. He would argue
Reductive physicalist accounts of the mind fail to fully explain the nature of mental states. Discuss.
5/3/15 ‘Reductive physicalist accounts of the mind fail to fully explain the nature of mental states.’ Discuss. (50 marks) Reductive Physicalist attempt to fully reduce the mind into a physical brain – the ‘internal content’ of the mind being fully explicable in terms of physical properties. By nature of mental states, we mean such arguments and theories as privacy of the mental, qualia, intentionality and mental physical causation. As we will see, all such problems can be explained and reduced via a reductive physicalist outlook. Substance Dualism fails to offer an argument in favour of a coherent argument in favour of a separate mind and mind, due to problems such as neural dependency – the argument goes that why should biological and neurological changes in the brain affect a non-physical mind – expressed through examples such as a person drinking alcohol. The results on a person after drinking alcohol, slowed reactions, higher tolerance of pain, points to the mind and brain being one and the same. Substance Dualism thus fails to provide a solution. Physiological Behaviourists hold that all behaviour, even very complex behaviour, can be fully explained in stimulus-response terms. The given model is a simple reflex: you sit on a chair in a relaxed position legs crossed, a doctor taps your knee and it bobs in the characteristic way. Here, a bit of
Assess whether an unequal distribution of property between individuals could be a feature of a just society
3/6/15 Assess whether an unequal distribution of property between individuals could be a feature of a just society? (50 marks) By a ‘just society’ we are referring to the principle of people getting what they deserve – or desert theory. Those such as Nozick believe that individuals have an absolute right to property of income that they themselves create; Marx outlined his belief in absolute equality; Rawls, however, is the only philosopher able to claim the middle ground and suggest a sensible solution: claiming that an unequal distribution of property can, with certain constraints, benefit the poorest in society. Nozick’s view on the distribution of property focuses on the issue of how it came about. Self-ownership of one’s own talents and abilities is key to his way of thinking. If, for example, Cristiano Ronaldo asked his football club to pay him 25p for each ticket sold, the fans being happy to pay the extra, and 400,000 people watched him play that season – then he would be £10,000,000 better off. This is perfectly just according to Nozick, since Ronaldo is using his own talents to make money; which the fans voluntarily gave to him. However, in some philosophers eyes, this would be seen as unjust is Ronaldo was allowed to keep all, or even any, of that money. Be that as it may, Nozick stated that people were ‘ends in themselves’ and any attempt to use
Assess the claim that Free Will and Determinism are compatible
Critically assess the claim that Free Will and Determinism are compatible [35] There is an important relationship between freedom and moral responsibility. I should be ready to accept the blame for the things that I freely do wrong. If I'm made to commit an immoral action, then I’m not blameworthy. If I'm forced at gunpoint to drive a getaway vehicle from a bank robbery, then it isn't my fault. Even if I'm forced at gunpoint to give money to charity, I'm not praiseworthy. Moral blame/praise can only be attributed to actions that are freely taken. Freedom is defined as the power to act, speak or think as one wishes. In general terms, Determinism is the view that all events and actions in the universe are the effects of other causes. Hard determinism relies heavily on the credence that as we are not free at all to act in a different way, we cannot be held morally responsible for our actions. As Aristotle maintained, "nothing happens without a reason". Honderich develops on this but relies on principles of Physics, namely Quantum Physics, to argue that determinism is much more complex - for instance, people may migrate across the planet and undergo profound social changes, yet their values dont seem to alter. Clarence Darrow, A hard determinist lawyer, successfully defended Loeb and Leopold for murder and cleared them of the death sentence. His plea was that they were indeed
Explain Platos teaching about reality in his analogy of the cave. (25 marks)
Explain Plato’s teaching about reality in his analogy of the cave. Plato (c.427 BCE- c.347 BCE), was a famous philosopher and student of socrates. He created philosophical theories which are still discussed today, theories such as the theory of the forms are still debated in modern times by many people including current leading philosophers. Plato was also an absolutist therefore believed that principles would always be true no matter what. Plato’s ideas ranged from existence of the soul and the nature of beauty to who should run for government. The Analogy of the Cave is one of three similes used by plato to illustrate his theory of the forms - Plato believed that behind every object or concept in our world (the realm of appearances) there is an ideal form of it, in an unseen reality called the realm of the forms. The forms for these concepts or objects could be could be explained as ideal designs for certain examples of the concepts on earth, Plato calls these particulars. The analogy is allegorical therefore different parts of the story are symbolic to situations we as people can face. The analogy of the cave: There are prisoners who have been chained to a wall underground since they were born, they have never seen outside the cave and could only gave the wall. This wall showed shadows cast from the fire behind them, this was the only realty they knew and had
Business Ethics
Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed. It is worth that stressing that by 'right' and 'wrong' we mean morally right and wrong. For example commercially, strategically, or financially right or wrong. Moreover, by business ethics, we do not mean only commercial business, but also government organization, pressure groups, not-for-profit businesses, charities and other organization. Business ethics has been claim as an Oxymoron. By an oxymoron, it mean that bringing together of two apparently contradictory concepts, such as in 'a cheerful pessimist' to say that business ethics is an oxymoron suggests that there are not or cannot be ethics in business which state that business is some way unethical such as business that is inherently bad, or that it is at best amoral which are such as outside of our normal moral considerations. Examples are such as in the latter case, Albert Carr (1968) notoriously argued in the article 'is business bluffing ethical' that the game of business was not subject to the same moral standards as the rest of society, but should be regarded as analogous to a game of poker where deception and lying were perfectly permissible. Business ethics is currently a very prominent business topic, and the debates and dilemmas surrounding business ethics have tended to attract an
Do we perceive the world directly?
Do we perceive the world directly? Direct realism is the theory that when we perceive an object and its properties, we are experiencing that object directly. Direct realists believe that what we see, hear or feel is actually there. An example of this would be looking out of a window on a clear day; we can see blue sky, white clouds and green grass. A direct realist would say that, because we can see the sky, clouds, grass and their colour, it is actually there. Descartes presents his argument from illusion to reject the theory of direct realism. He says that our senses are capable of deceiving us and that they allow us to perceive the world differently from the way is actually is. An example of this is looking at a stick half submerged in water. The part of the stick that is submerged looks bent. A direct realist would say that, because the stick in the water looks bent, it is bent. They believe that what we see is identical to what is actually there. Descartes rejects this by saying that the only reason the stick looks bent is because of the light refraction in the water - which has been scientifically proven. This example proves that our senses are capable of deceiving us in certain circumstances. Therefore disproving the idea that we experience the world directly. Another argument that disproves direct realism is presented by Russell. His argument from perceptual
The Holocaust
The Holocaust A02 Question: Explain how the experience of the Holocaust might affect the faith of a Jew. (7 marks) The Holocaust also known by Jews as "Shoah" was a tragic time in Jewish history whereby 6 million Jews were killed. The event poses deep questions about the nature of God, evil and reasons for suffering. Many Jews ask how and why God let this happen. The Shoah really tested many Jews' believe in God. Judaism teaches God created everything. So therefore did God created evil? Surely God is all loving and therefore created evil for a purpose but what is it? The covenant relationship made between God and Abraham states that if Jews obey the mitzvoth and the 10 commandments and serve God, God will in return protect them and provide them with the Promised Land. Why did he not protect them here? Was the promise broken is what some Jews might say. Jews may question the existence of God as a result of the Holocaust. Where was God and why didn't he stop it? In this discussion the "problem of evil" arises. This states, How can an all loving and omnipotent God let suffering into the world? If God is omni benevolent (all good) why did he allow evil to happen? If God is omnipotent (all powerful) why didn't he stop it? Unfortunately there is no one right or wrong answer on this but individual Jews will carry their own opinions. Some Jews might as a result have lost all
The life of Muhammad.
The life of Muhammad Islam The word Islam means surrender, obedience or peace. Followers of Islam believe Islam to be the only way to gain peace of heart and mind and in society as a whole. The holy book of Islam is the Qur'an. The Qur'an is said to be the word of God as said by the prophet Muhammad. The main belief of Islam is Tawhid. This is the belief in an oneness or unity of God, who in Arabic is known as Allah. Makkah and the Ka'bah Makkah was the capital city of Arabia and was famous for the Ka'bah. The Ka'bah is a large black cube in the centre of Makkah. The legend behind the Ka'bah is that Adam built it and therefore it became the first house of God on Earth. In pre Islamic Arabia the Ka'bah contained over 360 altars, statues and cult objects of various gods. The idols which it contained included meteor rocks and slabs of rock or pillars. Many of these idols were considered to be a point of worship or the focal point of a god's energy. Many of the statues were symbolic for example many statues were pyramids which represent the sun breaking through the clouds or power and blessing. The most important god that was worshipped in the Ka'bah was Allah or strong and most powerful one. He was said to have had three daughters Al-lat who was the goddess of sun and life, al-uzza who was the god of love and Manat who was the goddess of fate and fortune. The
The Goodness of God
The Goodness of God b) Explain what is meant in the Bible by the phrase 'God is good'. Christians see the goodness of God as one of his main attributes. God is thought to have a character, much like humans and Christians describe God in many different ways, for example as a father, a just judge or a warrior etc. However the most important label to be applied to God, especially in the Old Testament is his omnibenevolence. Firstly, God's goodness in the respect that he demonstrated his love in creating humanity; Secondly his readiness to forgive, but also punish man justly throughout time and lastly the fact that God's laws (the ten commandments) were designed for man's benefit. Of course we must first distinguish between the two types of good. First there is moral good, where a person or thing is good because it does moral acts - it leads a moral life. For example Mother Theresa was a moral person. Then there is goodness as a quality. For example Cristiano Ronaldo is a good football player, but this does not necessarily make him a good person morally. The goodness of God is first shown in his actions as a creator; In Genesis 1-3 God created order out of chaos by ten commands. The Jews liked order as chaos was seen to be evil. In the Seven Day Creation story God's goodness holds the forces of evil at bay. Each act of creation is seen to be good. "And he saw that it was
