Assessing Traditional Arguments about God's Existence Essay

Assessing Traditional Arguments about God's Existence - Essay Example Anselm during the 11th century CE. According to him, the existence of God can be derived from the belief that a being, which is more powerful than any other can be, conceived (Pojman 54). The argument goes ahead to hold that, considering that a more powerful being cannot be conceived is evidence to show that the only conceivable being that can be conceived remains the greatest. Therefore, the conception of an all-powerful God that surpasses all other beings shows that God exists. I believe that the ontological theory is not successful, mainly because it is one grounded upon reason, and it is obvious that the reasoning of a man is guided and based upon his past experience and the knowledge held. In supporting the argument, the proponents argue that disputing the existence of God is awkward, like the act of imagining that a four-sided triangle, which cannot be drawn (Malcolm 41-50). The proponents continue to argue that humans can tell that claims disputing God’s existence can b e rejected without referring to any evidence or tolerating any arguments in support of the viewpoint. The unsuccessfulness of the argument can be verified from the very premises it is built upon, including that it relies upon the experience and the knowledge of man to impose the viewpoint that God exists, without exploring anything beyond the reasoning of man (Pojman 54). The areas that the argument does not account for include the differences in the reasoning, and the knowledge held by different people – from different social and cultural settings. For example, a person of one social and cultural setting will conceive a God of one kind, and another from a different one will conceive a different one. These differences serve to show that the different Gods conceived by the different groups can be flawed; therefore, the existence of a more superior being cannot be disputed. The reasoning against the argument shows that it is not valid, because the specific inferences, it is gro unded upon cannot be reasoned out from an objective point of view, and because the premises are not verified for validity in any way. The invalid inferences of the argument include the conception that God exists and that another god who is greater than the conceptualized God exists (Malcolm 41-50). Others include the inference that God exists as an idea in the mind. The inferences show that the different ideas developed by different people may show that different gods are conceived. There is the inference of holding other things constant, which shows that the reasoning blocks the conception or proves of a higher power or being, which is not a proper reasoning for a substantial and reasoned argument (Pojman 54). The argument is not sound, mainly because the different premises it is grounded upon, are themselves flawed right from their conception. The premises that are distinctively false or unfounded include the following: that the conception of a superior God blocks the possibility that a power which is higher than him exists and that the superior God exists as an idea, which shows that another idea of a more powerful force can still be developed. Other unfounded premises include that the reality of God is not verified in any way, and the claim that the conception of a higher being will be a contradiction of reality, although the reality to be contradicted has not been verified in any logical way (Oppy 72). Citing the unfounded nature of the inferences and the premises used by the

Slavery in latin america Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Slavery in latin america - Essay Example Despite everything, this paper seeks to identify the context in which this book was produced and determine its implication on the study of Africans in Latin America. The journey for Africans, who were captured and enslaved in America, involved eleven million Africans, but only four hundred and fifty thousand of them, went to America; actually, the other millions went to Caribbean and Latin America1. In this case, the book â€Å"Black in Latin America† by Henry Louis Gates explores changes in events during the history of slavery in the West and its implication to culture. Moreover, analysis of this book gives substantial insights on the newly created and vibrant culture by Africans and understanding of influences caused by Africans, Portuguese and Spanish cultures. Context in Which the Book Was Produced The book â€Å"Black in Latin America† by Henry Louis Gates was produced in year 2011 to mark a celebration and the will of numerous Haitians and Dominicans to assert the ir African ancestry. Moreover, the book was produced during a period attributed to denial of African heritage by numerous Dominicans. In fact, the author of this book established an organization in Dominican Republic, which was referred to as Kong Brotherhood. Furthermore, the book was produced due to the assertion of African heritage in Haiti, which was denied by many Haitians. ... Moreover, it is written in a context that relates to events in the modern world, which are compared to the past to foster understanding of the influence caused by slavery. Furthermore, this book depicts facts related to race and African ancestries focusing on acknowledgement or denial of their past and the way these African ancestries interrelate with other cultures in a multicultural world of Latin America. The history of Africans in Latin America is unveiled by the author in this book, whereby ideas gathered from slaves’ experiences are extended to the present; in fact, this involves an illustration of the history of Africans in six Latin American countries, which include Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Haiti, Peru and the Dominican Republic. Moreover, these experiences entail art, music, dance, politics and religion, though it also focuses on presenting the anti-black racisms, which was aimed at expunging African culture2. Brazil has the world’s largest slave economy; thus, th is book sought to explore ideas that facilitate understanding of the way a country such as Brazil attained this status by enslaving Africans. Furthermore, there is a correlation identified between slavery and other aspects of life such as culture, religion, music and politics in a country such as Cuba. In fact, the book points out that this correlation is attributed to the amount of labour supply offered by the slave imported to Cuba with aims of generating significant profits during the nineteenth century in the sugar industry. Nevertheless, there are other ideas in this book, which are based on the context of communist revolution that occurred in 1959. In fact, that was a period when racisms instilled fear among numerous