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Philosophy of Religion (Component 2)

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Does the existence of a contingent universe require a necessary first cause, or do Hume and Russell show that the cosmological argument fails?

Component 2 the cosmological argument: Aquinas's Third Way (contingency), the Copleston-Russell debate, and Hume's challenges, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to the cosmological argument. Covers Aquinas's Third Way from contingency, the Copleston-Russell radio debate over the principle of sufficient reason, Hume's challenges (fallacy of composition, the gap to a single God), and the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
16 min answer →

Can the existence of God be proved from the definition of God alone, or do Gaunilo and Kant show that existence cannot be defined into being?

Component 2 the ontological argument: Anselm's first and second forms, Gaunilo's perfect island objection, and Kant's claim that existence is not a predicate, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to the ontological argument. Covers Anselm's first and second forms (God as that than which nothing greater can be conceived, and necessary existence), Gaunilo's perfect island objection, and Kant's claim that existence is not a predicate, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
16 min answer →

Is religious belief best explained as a product of the human mind, a wish-fulfilling illusion (Freud) or an expression of the collective unconscious (Jung), rather than as a response to God?

Component 2 religious belief as a product of the human mind: Freud's account (wish-fulfilment, illusion, the Oedipus complex) and Jung's account (the collective unconscious, archetypes, individuation), with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to religious belief as a product of the human mind. Covers Freud's account (religion as wish-fulfilment, illusion, neurosis and the Oedipus complex) and Jung's account (the collective unconscious, archetypes and individuation), and the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
16 min answer →

Do religious experiences provide good evidence for the existence of God, or can they be explained away by psychology, physiology and the conflicting claims of different religions?

Component 2 religious experience: mystical experience (James), the numinous (Otto), Teresa of Avila, and the value of experience for belief (Swinburne's principles of credulity and testimony), with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to religious experience. Covers William James's four marks of mystical experience, Otto's numinous, Teresa of Avila, and Swinburne's principles of credulity and testimony, together with the naturalistic and conflicting-claims challenges, and the evaluation the exam rewards.
17 min answer →

Is religious language meaningful, or is it (as the logical positivists argued) literally meaningless because it cannot be verified or falsified?

Component 2 religious language: the via negativa, the verification and falsification debate (Ayer, Flew, Hare, Mitchell, Hick), analogy and symbol (Aquinas, Ramsey, Tillich), and Wittgenstein's language games, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to religious language. Covers the via negativa, the verification principle (Ayer) and the falsification debate (Flew, Hare, Mitchell, Hick), analogy (Aquinas, Ramsey) and symbol (Tillich), and Wittgenstein's language games, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
18 min answer →

Does the order, purpose and fine-tuning of the universe point to a designer, or do Hume, Mill and evolution explain the appearance of design without God?

Component 2 the teleological argument: Aquinas's Fifth Way, Paley's design argument, Tennant's aesthetic and anthropic arguments, and the challenges of Hume, Mill and Darwinian evolution.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to the teleological (design) argument. Covers Aquinas's Fifth Way, Paley's watchmaker analogy, Tennant's anthropic and aesthetic arguments, and the challenges of Hume, J. S. Mill and Darwinian evolution, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
17 min answer →

Can the existence of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God be reconciled with the evil and suffering of the world, and do the Augustinian, Irenaean or process theodicies succeed?

Component 2 the problem of evil and suffering: the logical and evidential problem, the Augustinian theodicy, the Irenaean (Hick's soul-making) theodicy, and the process theodicy (Whitehead, Griffin), with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 2 (Philosophy of Religion) guide to the problem of evil and the theodicies. Covers the logical and evidential problem of moral and natural evil, the Augustinian theodicy (the Fall and privation), the Irenaean soul-making theodicy (Hick), and the process theodicy (Whitehead, Griffin), with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
18 min answer →