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Why does God exist?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2020

C. A. MCINTOSH Open the ORCID record for C. A. MCINTOSH [Opens in a new window]
C. A. MCINTOSH*
Affiliation:
Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, 218 Goldwin Smith Hall, Ithaca, NY14853, USA
*
e-mail: cam497@cornell.edu
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Abstract

Many philosophers have appealed to the PSR in arguments for a being that exists a se, a being whose explanation is in itself. But what does it mean, exactly, for something to have its explanation ‘in itself’? Contemporary philosophers have said next to nothing about this, relying instead on phrases plucked from the accounts of various historical figures. In this article, I analyse five such accounts – those of Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz – and argue that none are satisfactory. Should we abandon or restrict the PSR, then? I think that would be hasty, for many reasons. I therefore consider the prospects of explaining everything, including God, given the constraints of certain features of good explanations, and conclude with several observations about future approaches.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 236 - 257
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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