Argument

Arguments are also used in epistemology, the study of knowledge and how we can truly know that something is true. In doing so, philosophers must call everything into question. The rationalist (who believe if you simply rely on reason, you will know what to trust) Descartes’argument is “I doubt, therefore I am,” which is a valid form of motus ponens. If one doubts, one must exist, because one must exist to do the doubting.

An example of an argument dealing with religion is Pascal’s argument that if you in God (theistic) you have everything to gain and nothing to lose, and if you don’t believe in God (atheistic) you have everything to lose and nothing to gain. This is a valid motus ponens argument, but if we evaluate it informally, according to the context, we find that this argument is a type of false dilemma, because there are more than just the two possibilities of being theistic or atheistic.

Another argument dealing with religion, one dealing with whether or not God exists, is William Palsy’s argument: If human artifacts are the product of intelligent design, somebody must have made the artifact. The universe resembles human artifacts, thus the universe is the product of intelligent design. The universe is much greater than any human artifact, therefore the creator of the universe must be greater than any human artifact. This is a valid syllogism form of argument.

A type of argument dealing with religion is that of theodicy, which must show that evil is necessary, to justify the existence of an infinitely good and infinitely powerful God. The free will defense is a theodicy which says that God had to either make us free or make us perfectly good. This is a type of strong disjunctive argument, because God could only do one or the other, so He chose the best thing-He made us free, and evil is the result of bad choices made by humans.