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4.2.1 Metaphysics of God

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Can the order of nature or the existence of the universe prove there is a God?

Teleological design arguments from analogy (Paley) and from spatial order and regularity, the cosmological argument from causation and contingency (the Kalam and Aquinas' first three Ways and Leibniz on sufficient reason), and the objections of Hume and Kant including the limits of analogy and the fallacy of composition.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level Philosophy metaphysics of God on the design and cosmological arguments, covering Paley's argument from analogy, arguments from spatial order, the cosmological argument from causation and contingency including the Kalam, Aquinas and Leibniz, and Hume's and Kant's objections.
12 min answer →

Can God's existence be proved a priori from the very concept of God?

Ontological arguments as a priori and deductive, Anselm's argument that God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, Descartes' argument from God as a supremely perfect being, and the objections of Gaunilo's perfect island, Hume and Kant that existence is not a predicate.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level Philosophy metaphysics of God on the ontological argument, covering its a priori deductive form, Anselm's argument, Descartes' argument from a supremely perfect being, and the objections of Gaunilo's perfect island and the Hume and Kant claim that existence is not a predicate.
10 min answer →

Can talk about God be meaningful, and if so what kind of meaning does it have?

The distinction between cognitivist and non-cognitivist views of religious language, the verification principle and Hume's fork as challenges to its meaningfulness, the Vienna Circle and Ayer, Hick's eschatological verification, and non-cognitivist analyses of religious language as expressing attitudes or forms of life.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level Philosophy metaphysics of God on religious language, covering cognitivist and non-cognitivist views, the verification principle and Hume's fork, Ayer and the Vienna Circle, Hick's eschatological verification, and non-cognitivist analyses of religious language.
10 min answer →

What is meant by God, and are the traditional divine attributes coherent together?

God as omniscient, omnipotent and supremely good, the meanings of these attributes, the paradox of the stone and the Euthyphro dilemma, and whether the attributes are compatible with each other and with human free will and divine foreknowledge.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level Philosophy metaphysics of God on the concept of God, covering omniscience, omnipotence and supreme goodness, the paradox of the stone, the Euthyphro dilemma, and whether the divine attributes are compatible with each other and with free will and foreknowledge.
10 min answer →

Does the existence of evil and suffering disprove the God of classical theism?

The distinction between moral and natural evil, the logical problem of evil (the inconsistent triad) and the evidential problem of evil, and the main theistic responses including the free will defence, soul-making theodicy and the appeal to the limits of human understanding.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level Philosophy metaphysics of God on the problem of evil, covering moral and natural evil, the logical problem (the inconsistent triad) and the evidential problem, and theistic responses including the free will defence, soul-making theodicy and the appeal to the limits of human understanding.
11 min answer →