The Existence of God

by John Harwood Hick (Editor)

The principal philosophical arguments on the existence of God are brought together here. From the ancient Greeks and Anselm to the present day and Bertrand Russell...

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Atheism, History

305 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Abolfazl · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگر باور دارید که خدایی هست یا نیست یا فکر می کنید سوالات فلسفی و متافیزیک و خارج از حوزه تجریه بی معناست، خواندن این کتاب خالی از لطف نیست. هر چند برخی قسمت ها به دلیل نا آشنایی با برخی اصول منطق و فلسفه می تواند گنگ باشد و نیاز است که با آنها آشنایی داشت تا به خوبی مطالب درک شوند. در آینده دوباره رجوع می کنم تا مطالب جا بیافتند.

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the work is somewhat dated by the worlds standards, the work is nevertheless seminal in the students toolbox of philosophy. John Hick contributes the basic arguments and reasons to deny, which basically have not changed in a thousand years. Richard Darwin and crew use the same basic anti-god arguments as espoused by Hume and others. Verifications principle and the like.........Darwin fails where the others fail on understanding evolution, oughtness, nature of law, etc. Graduate level reading.

[Nathan Ormond · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book covering all the key texts for and against. This text is additionally valuable as it was written at a time when the world was a very different place and philosophy a very different thing to now and provides an interesting lens of exposition through which to interpret the originally included excerpts from the likes of St Thomas, Plato and J.S.Mill.

Highly recommended for those interested in philosophy of religion.

[Steven H]

AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF ARGUMENTS FOR/AGAINST GOD

This 1964 contains an excellent Introduction by John Hick (as well as introductions to each of the presented writings) in chapters of: the Ontological Argument; the Cosmological Argument; the Teleological argument; the Moral argument; and the Argument from Religious Experience. A section on "Discussion and Questionings" includes the entire BBC debate between Bertrand Russell and Fr. Frederick Copleston, as well as Feuerbach, Kierkegaard, etc. The final section on "Contemporary Problems" includes the famed essay on "Theology and Falsification" by Anthony Flew, articles by John Wisdom. R.B. Braithwaite, etc.

For me, the debate between Catholic historian of philosophy Copleston (see his monumental multi-volume 'A History of Philosophy') and Bertrand Russell would alone be worth the price of the book. (This debate used to be printed in editions of 'Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects,' but has since been taken out; perhaps because Russell did not fare as well in the debate as his supporters---including me---might have hoped.) The debate was originally broadcast on the BBC in 1948.

To give you a brief idea of the interchange, here are some excerpts: "BR: ... what I'm saying is that the concept of cause is not applicable to the total... I should say that the universe is just there, and that's all. FC: Well, I can't see how you can rule out the legitimacy of asking the question how the total, or anything at all, comes to be there. Why something rather than nothing, that is the question?... BR: That's always assuming that not only every particular thing in the world, but the world as a whole must have a cause. For that assumption I see no ground whatever. If you'll give me a ground I'll listen to it. FC: Well, the series of events is either caused or it's not caused. If it is caused, there must obviously be a cause outside the series. If it's not caused then it's sufficient to itself, and... it is what I call necessary. But it can't be necessary since each member is contingent, and we've agreed that the total is not reality apart from its members, therefore it can't be necessary. Therefore it can't be ... uncaused---therefore it must have a cause... BR: I don't want to seem arrogant, but it does seem to me that I can conceive things that you say the human mind can't conceive. As for things not having a cause, the physicists assure us that individual quantum transition in atoms have no cause. FC: Well, I wonder, now whether that isn't simply a temporary inference. BR: It may be, but it does show that physicists' minds can conceive it." (Pg. 175-176)

With excerpts from Plato, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Paley, Hume, Kant, Mill, A.J. Ayer, and many others, this collection gets right to the heart of the various arguments, and will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the philosophy of religion.

[Zachary Williams]

DNF

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, John Hicks examines how the belief of God has manifested throughout the ages. He presents five arguments for the existence of God and then presents the common challenges against those arguments.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary/reader of some arguments for/against the existence of God.