IB Philosophy 10.3.4 Proofs for the Existence of God Key Definitions

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Paper 1

Paper 2

Paper 3

1.1 Identity

1.2 The self and the other

1.3 Consciousness

1.4 Personhood

1.5 Human nature

1.6 Freedom

2.1 The nature of art

2.2 The artist and the artistic process

2.3 Aesthetic experience and judgement

3.1 Nature of knowledge

3.2 Problems of knowledge

3.3 Application of knowledge

4.1 Normative ethics

4.2 Meta-ethics

4.3 Applied ethics

5.1 Nature and existence of God

5.2 Religious language

5.3 Religious experience and behaviour

6.1 Nature and methodologies of science

6.2 Science and the self

6.3 Science and society

7.1 The state

7.2 Justice

7.3 Liberty and rights

8.1 Social structures and institutions

8.2 Equality and discrimination

8.3 Gender

9.1 Philosophy and technology

9.2 Philosophy and the environment

9.3 The nature, function, and meaning of methodology of philosophy

10.1 Language, Truth and Logic – Alfred Jules Ayer

10.2 The Analects – Confucius

10.3 Meditations on First Philosophy – René Descartes

10.4 Black Skin, White Masks – Frantz Fanon

10.5 On the Genealogy of Morality – Friedrich Nietzsche

10.6 Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach – Martha C. Nussbaum

10.7 The Revolt of the Masses – José Ortega y Gasset

10.8 The Republic, Books IV–IX – Plato

10.9 The Ethics of Authenticity – Charles Taylor

10.10 Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu

10.11 The Second Sex – Simone de Beauvoir

10.12 On Liberty – John Stuart Mill

IB Philosophy 10.3.4 Proofs for the Existence of God Key Definitions

Definition

Formal reality

a Cartesian distinction between the degree of reality a thing possesses in itself (formal reality) and the degree of reality an idea has by virtue of what it represents (objective reality). In the trademark argument, Descartes uses this distinction to argue that the idea of God, which has infinite objective reality, requires a cause with infinite formal reality, pointing to God as the only adequate cause.

Definition

Natural theology

Natural theology is the attempt to establish truths about God's existence and attributes through reason and observation of the natural world, without relying on divine revelation or scripture.

Definition

Ontological argument

The ontological argument is an a priori proof for the existence of God that proceeds from the concept of God alone, without relying on empirical observation. Descartes' version in Meditation V argues that because God possesses all perfections and existence is a perfection, God necessarily exists.

Definition

Formal reality

a Cartesian distinction between the degree of reality a thing possesses in itself (formal reality) and the degree of reality an idea has by virtue of what it represents (objective reality). In the trademark argument, Descartes uses this distinction to argue that the idea of God, which has infinite objective reality, requires a cause with infinite formal reality, pointing to God as the only adequate cause.

Definition

Natural theology

Natural theology is the attempt to establish truths about God's existence and attributes through reason and observation of the natural world, without relying on divine revelation or scripture.

Definition

Ontological argument

The ontological argument is an a priori proof for the existence of God that proceeds from the concept of God alone, without relying on empirical observation. Descartes' version in Meditation V argues that because God possesses all perfections and existence is a perfection, God necessarily exists.