the existence of God

was feeling a bit philosophical this afternoon, and was contemplating this thought…

does not the very fact that we even think about the existence of God prove his existence?

i have serious doubts as to whether any other living thing asks these sorts of questions, which (it seems to me) proves an inherent difference between us and other critters.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 6:54 pm and is filed under life. You can feed this entry. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses

  1. I think you are alluding to

    16. The Argument from Desire
    19. The Common Consent Argument

    Twenty Arguments For The Existence Of God

    God exists and He is good, all the time!

    Paul Robotham - March 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pm

  2. strange you should mention kreeft – haven’t thought about him for years, but actually had reason to think about him this evening (independently) about another matter. i like kreeft’s stuff a lot, but i didn’t have him in mind during my contemplations.

    actually, it’s is one of those interesting feelings, when you feel you’ve just had a “big thought”, but also have the sense that surely somebody else a lot smarter must have thought this before somewhere…

    there’s actually a mathematician who has some philosophical ideas about the inevitable development of key ideas, but i don’t have time to ramble right at the moment… :-)

    ob1 - March 12th, 2008 at 7:35 am

  3. an interesting assumption…I sometimes think about the existence of life elsewhere in the universe and other odd things – can we apply the same reasoning?

    Barry. - March 12th, 2008 at 2:13 pm

  4. “I think therefore I am,” said Rene Descartes, “and if I am, then something must have caused me to be.

    What could have caused me to be?

    - Myself? but surely I would have made myself perfect.
    - I could be eternal myself? but I don’t exist independently, I need something to sustain me.
    - My parents? but then what caused my parents to be, and their parents, ad infinitum.
    - Something less perfect than God? but how could something imperfect create the concept of perfection in me?
    - God? but of course!

    from “Discourse on Method” (somewhere near the back, I think)

    anon - March 16th, 2008 at 10:18 pm

  5. yes, yes, yes… good old descartes! so, i think now that i might have thought this once before during a dream in one of my philosophy classes… :-)

    ob1 - March 17th, 2008 at 8:33 am