Can you please refute each of these arguments?

banana

New member
These are 5 proofs of God. Can you please refute them in detail? Thanks.

1 - FIRST MOVER: Some things are in motion, anything moved is moved by another, and there can't be an infinite series of movers. So there must be a first mover (a mover that isn't itself moved by another). This is God.

2 - FIRST CAUSE: Some things are caused, anything caused is caused by another, and there can't be an infinite series of causes. So there must be a first cause (a cause that isn't itself caused by another). This is God.

3 - NECESSARY BEING: Every contingent being at some time fails to exist. So if everything were contingent, then at some time there would have been nothing -- and so there would be nothing now -- which is clearly false. So not everything is contingent. So there is a necessary being. This is God.

4 - GREATEST BEING: Some things are greater than others. Whatever is great to any degree gets its greatness from that which is the greatest. So there is a greatest being, which is the source of all greatness. This is God.

5 - INTELLIGENT DESIGNER: Many things in the world that lack intelligence act for an end. Whatever acts for an end must be directed by an intelligent being. So the world must have an intelligent designer. This is God.
 
1. "anything moved is moved by another" and "So there must be a first mover (a mover that isn't itself moved by another). This is God." Special Pleading logical fallacy. If every mover needs a mover, why does God, who is a mover, not need a mover?
2. "anything caused is caused by another" and "So there must be a first cause (a cause that isn't itself caused by another). This is God." Special Pleading logical fallacy. If everything needs a cause, what caused God?
3. "So there is a necessary being." Begging the Question logical fallacy. The First Law of Thermodynamics states clearly that the total energy of the universe is constant. As such, energy, not a "being" can be the necessary thing that does not fail to exist.
4. "So there is a greatest being, which is the source of all greatness. This is God." Special Pleading logical fallacy. If all greatness needs a greater source, then what greatness was the source for God?
5. "Whatever acts for an end must be directed by an intelligent being." Rain falls in accordance with gravity, which is an unintelligent force. The rain acts in a directed manner, but that direction comes from an unintelligent force. This premise is false.

FYI for all answer givers: These are not her arguments, nor do I get the impression that she believes they are good arguments. They are proposed by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century.
 
I won't refute each of them.
You are silly to make an exception to god, thus all your proofs fail.
And you also seem to forget that,a mover that isn't itself moved by another, could be an event (like the big bang). So basically these proofs don't proof anything.
 
Back
Top