St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument of God
Anselm’s argument in Proslogium is an argument that is founded on concepts and beliefs. In the second chapter, Anselm states that God existent in the understanding of individuals. Hence, the premise of this is that existence, in reality, is more significant when compared to existence in understanding alone. Anselm also argues that if God is existent in reality, then he would hold more significance.
Based on this, if God is existent in understanding, then this is also true for reality. As fools or rational atheists will agree that He is existent in their understanding, then in reality he would also be viewed as existing. Based on the description of God as "that in which nothing greater can be conceived," then it is logically necessary that God exists (Anselm, p.2). Based on this, the conception of a being as existing makes their possibility of existence greater. St. Anselm concludes that the existence of God is a necessity. .
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Thomas Aquinas and David Hume Response
One of Aquinas’ five arguments is the argument from contingency, which rises from possibility and necessity. Aquinas states that we find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, that come into being and go out of being (Anselm, p.2). Hence, an assumption can be made that all beings are contingent beings. For each contingent being, there is a time in which it is nonexistent. Therefore, Aquinas argues that there could be a time where nothing existed. Hence, not every being is a contingent being. This being is in existence of its own need and was not prompted by other being to exist. Instead, this being caused the existence of other beings. This being is referred to as God by men.
Aquinas’ argument can be viewed as metaphysical non-sense as opposed to man-made objects, no human being as observed the design of contingent beings. Hence, we do not know whether an independent being exists to cause the existence of contingent beings. Therefore, this argument is based upon faulty analogy as there no known cases of infinite beings creating anything. All things in the universe are created by material or finite beings.
Nietzsche's "Bird of Prey and lamb" analogy
Nietzsche uses the bird of prey and lamb analogy to describe the concept of master morality versus slaver morality. The birds of prey do not resent the innocent little lambs but love them. Contrastingly, these little lambs strongly resent their predators, viewing them as the ‘evil’ birds of prey (Nietzsche, p.28). According to Nietzsche, the slave morality is based on the relationship between good and evil. In this case, the slave views the word ‘good’ as representing the weakness and frailty that they exist as opposed to the control and power that those with the master morality possess, which is viewed as 'evil. This is a perversion of the original use of the word 'good,' which represented something that has qualities to be desired, such as power and control.
In the fourth way argument, Aquinas uses 'good' refers to something that is perceived as being better than others. He uses this argument to argue that God is the cause of all beings, goodness, and perfection (Aquinas, p.2). By declaring God as the source of goodness, it appears that Aquinas holds the perception of the word ‘good’ as representing qualities that are better than existing standards. This makes Nietzsche’s use of the word incompatible with its use by Aquinas.
William Clifford
Clifford argues that it is always wrong for any individual, in any circumstance to hold a belief without enough evidence. This is based on his premise that there are several ways through which individuals can wrongly arrive at particular beliefs. For example, a belief or conviction can be arrived at by listening to the prejudice and passion presented by others as opposed to patient inquiring (Clifford, p.2).
Clifford also argues that once a belief is held, it causes bias and influences action while also altering thought patterns. Hence, a need exists to ensure that belief is always based on sufficient evidence. While his argument is highly convincing, Clifford is not entirely correct as to question beliefs, individuals need to have at least some beliefs. Therefore, it appears impossible to actually question each belief.
Gettier and Justified True Belief
According to Gettier's theory, an individual holds a justified true belief if it is true, if they ae justified to believe (Gettier, p.1). To show that a justified true belief (JTB) doesn't necessarily equal knowledge (k), Gettier uses several examples.
One example is that suppose one is justified to believe the false idea that Jones owns a Ford. Smith has a JTB that Jones is the owner of a Ford based evidence that in each experience Smith had with Jones and his car, Jones offered him a ride in a Ford (Gettier, p.3). Smith is, therefore, completely justified in the belief of this proposition. However, Jones is not the owner of this car but is instead rented it and uses it. In this case, Smith's proposition is wrong. Therefore, in this case, a JTB does not equal knowledge.
Jonathan Tallant
Tallant presents several reasons why intuitions should be used as evidence in metaphysics. One reason is that if gender bias and confirmation bias have a role in peer review, then there is no ground for ruling out that intuition has a considerable role in the peer review process (Tallant, p.10). Another is that a hypothesis exists that increased professionalization in science results in an increase in bias. Hence, the peer review process may preserve the unconscious bias of the reviewer. If this bias exists and is recognized, intuition should also be recognized.
Intuition should be used as evidence in any investigation domain, as the investigator is affected by a wide range of biases in the process. In this way, intuition can be identified as having some role in the evaluation and acceptance or rejection of some theories.
References
Anselm, St. "Proslogion (Discourse on the Existence of God)." (1903).
Aquinas, Thomas. "The five ways." Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology (2012): 147.
Clifford, William K. "The ethics of belief." Readings in the Philosophy of Religion (1901): 246.
Gettier, Edmund. "Is justified true belief knowledge." Knowledge and Inquiry: Readings in Epistemology (2002): 175-177.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Nietzsche:'On the Genealogy of Morality'and Other Writings . Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Tallant, Jonathan. "Metaphysics, intuitions, and physics." Ratio 28.3 (2015): 286-301.
