...the design argument for the existence of God? (10 marks) (b) Identify the strengths of this argument. To what extent are these strengths more convincing than its weaknesses? (10 marks) 2. (a) Describe the main strengths and weaknesses of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. (14 marks) (b) To what extent do the weaknesses of this argument limit its effectiveness? (6 marks) 3. (a) Examine the characteristics of BOTH a religious and a scientific interpretation of the origins of the universe. (14 marks) (b) Comment on the view that the differences between these interpretations rule out any major disagreement between them. (6 marks) 4. (a) What do religious believers mean by the ‘problem of suffering’? (5 marks) (b) Select any TWO theodicies and consider how far they offer solutions to this problem. (15 marks) 5. (a) Examine TWO philosophical reasons for belief in miracles. (6 marks) (b) Outline at least TWO problems with belief in miracles. (8 marks) (c) Consider the claim that there are no acceptable solutions to these problems. (6 marks) 2002 1. (a) Outline the design argument for the existence of God. (7 marks) (b) ‘The design argument fails because of its weaknesses.’ Examine and comment on this claim. (13 marks) 2. (a) What are the key ideas of the cosmological argument for the existence...
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...I will argue that the ‘war on terror’ declared by the Bush administration and so assessed for the US; is not a just war. It fails in the central interrelated criteria of just cause and last resort for jus ad bellum, which I detail first through assessment of the Bush administration’s self-proclaimed just reasoning behind resorting to war against a concept, and the alternatives available to it, I will then detail its failure in the jus in bello criteria of discrimination and proportionality, reasoning through the case of drone warfare. Jus ad bellum I shall firstly focus on the crucial jus ad bellum principle of just cause, holding the only just cause for war to be self-defence . The USA and its allies suffered unjust, unprovoked terror attacks, notably to embassies and battleships, as well as ultimately the 9/11 disaster, and further possessed reputable evidence of other failed attacks. Thus this essay acknowledges that they were under-attack from a powerful and effective enemy, which could be reliably pinpointed as Al Qaeda. These attacks were focused on non-combatants in landmark locations; deliberate targeting for maximum terror spreading effect, which further represented an attack on western freedoms. Hence the assailant satisfied neither jus ad bellum, nor jus in bello, and without immediate and effective action there existed great potential for further unjust attacks. This was the Bush administration’s argument for sufficient reason to declare war in self-defence . However...
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...Understanding Morality Topic: Death Penalty 1. General theory overview Utilitarianism will check the outcome that results from punishing the criminals and whether it is the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. The theory of social contract is supported by Hobbes. He argues that the state of nature is “the life of man would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” His solution is to come together and agree to a social contract, whose aim is to protect people from harm by others as well as to guarantee all the parties can keep the agreement. Kant says we need to act out of duty of moral rule. When we treat criminals, the only reason to be regarded as praiseworthy must be nothing else than the crime itself. Then we should consider the 1st form of categorical imperatives, which says “act only on the maxim that you can will as a universal law”. Next, we must take the 2nd categorical imperatives into account. It says “always treat humanity whether in your own person or in that of another, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end”. On the retributivist view, legal punishment is justified as a means of making those who are responsible for a crime or harm pay for it. According to the retributivist view, payment must to be made in some way that is equivalent to the crime or harm done. There are two arguments, proportional equivalency and egalitarian equivalency. For proportional equivalency, one is required to pay back something proportional...
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...Final What are mental states according to Behaviorism? The theory according to which mental states can be analyzed in terms of observable behavior or dispositions to engage in such behavior. Mental states are nothing but the cause of behavior and, therefore, we can identify them with physical states of the central nervous system. What is the role of dispositions in the account of mental states? They are statements about how a person will behave in various circumstances. If conditions are such-and-such, then the person will behave so-and-so.) Does the behaviorist deny that behavior is caused by the brain processes? Why brain processes do not constitute mental states? There is nothing more to mental states than how we are disposed to act. Behaviorists maintain that mental states are nothing more than dispositions to behave in certain ways! What is the inner aspect of mental states and why does it provide and argument against behaviorism? Why does it provide an argument against behaviorism? Epiphenomenalism is the view that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain, but have no effects upon any physical events. What is the interconnected character of mental states and how does it provide an argument against behaviorism? Every mental state is related to another mental state. It denies everything internally. For example pain, you need an Asprin to feel better. When you define one mental state, you must define another. Behaviorist don’t believe...
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...Introduction Stephen Van Evera’s description of the ‘cult of the offensive’ among general staffs in the First World War has been a regular part of discourse about the war since his article’s publication in 1984. Popular accounts of the war depict bloody and foolish generals pushing their states toward war without realizing the costs and dangers of the conflict; many of these portrayals rely to an extent on Van Evera’s descriptions of German, Russian, and French illusions about the balance of offense and defense. However persuasive Van Evera’s view of deluded general staffs may be, his defensive realist theory fails to successfully identify both the long-run and short-run causes of the war. In its place, I propose using Michelle Murray’s Social...
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...Jestin Thompson Political Science 23 April 2013 Final Paper Theory of Democratic Peace The idea of democratic peace was brought up in the enlightened era. The theory of democratic peace was based off of Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace.” The theory of democratic peace argues that nation-states governed by democratic regimes do not tend to have conflicts with other countries that would lead to wars. With this theory, it shows that nation-states with a democratic rule are more likely to not go to war with other countries. In some cases, this theory has been proven to be true, but in other cases it has not, especially with the United States. There are many proponents and opponents for this theory. Through this essay, the theory is to see if democratic, authoritarian, and totalitarian rule can coexist peacefully together, which will be proven either to be true or untrue. In 1795, Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, wrote the basis for the theory of democratic peace, which is called “Perpetual Peace.” Through his writings, it explains how countries can reach a perpetual peace and fit the democratic peace theory. In this writing, contains the preliminary articles for perpetual peace among states. This section includes six main topics to help achieve a perpetual peace. First, he explains that after a war there should not be a treaty with provisions for the future wars between the two nation states. Secondly, no state, whether large or small, should be controlled...
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...Great Power Politics, author John Mearsheimer outlines a new theory of international relations which he calls “offensive realism.” Mearsheimer’s theory is a spin-off of Kenneth Waltz’s neorealism, also known as structural or defensive realism. Mearsheimer follows on the premises of Kenneth Waltz’s theory by deriving the behavior of states from the “structure” of the international system. Mearsheimer outlines five assumptions or premises comprising his theoretical foundation: 1) the international system is anarchic (no world government) 2) all states posses some offensive capability and are thus capable of using force against other states 3) no state can be certain another state will not use force against it 4) survival, territorial integrity, and domestic autonomy are the primal goals of all states and 5) great powers are rational actors (Mearsheimer 2001, pp. 30-31). It is difficult to definitively discern what conclusions Mearsheimer thinks follow from these premises (Wagner 2007, pg. 14). He argues for perhaps three conclusions: 1) great powers have powerful incentives to “think and act offensively with regard to each other…In particular, three general patterns of behavior result: fear, self-help, and power maximization (Mearsheimer 2001, pg.32)” 2) even states that want only to survive end up pursuing hegemony as the ultimate insurance for survival 3) even states that care only about their survival may end up in war. These conclusions constitute what Mearsheimer calls the tragedy...
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...AS Philosophy & Ethics Course Handbook 2013 to 2014 [pic] OCR AS Level Religious Studies (H172) http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/hss/rs/index.aspx OCR AS Level Religious Studies (H172) You are studying Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics and will be awarded an OCR AS Level in Religious Studies. The modules and their weightings are: |AS: |Unit Code |Unit Title |% of AS |(% of A Level) | | |G571 |AS Philosophy of Religion |50% |(25%) | | |G572 |AS Religious Ethics |50% |(25%) | If you decide to study for the full A Level you will have to study the following modules at A2: |A2: |Unit Code |Unit Title |(% of A Level) | | |G581 |A2 Philosophy of Religion |(25%) | | |G582 |A2 Religious Ethics |(25%) | Grading | ...
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...perceived as a war crime according to international law today? The analysis that is set out hereafter presents the case that there is a strong argument that the Dresden bombing CAN be perceived as a war crime. There have always been elements of controversy attached to it for a few important reasons with the main issue of concern being why this city was chosen as a target after five years of war. Some of the reasons proffered are as follows: a) The city was part of Nazi Germany and therefore could be legitimately attacked in the ordinary scheme of things. The Allied forces were after all at war with Nazi Germany b) There was the belief that the city was being used under the cover of...
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...With the discussion of unjust and just war has occurred in connection with whether terror-bombing is a just means to pursue a war, or the do it even mean to initiated one in accord with justice. Just war deontological theory is the relationship between duty and the morality rules of the military action, which will result in the good for the welfare of the people in the village that the war is taken place at. Failing to abide by the general rules that have been setup for the U.S. government will result in immorally behavior. When dealing with deontological, there is no room for subjective feelings, because it will leave room for question and it does not deal with ethics, but it does concentrate on prudence. Jus in Bello theory distinguishes how the military will are may treat the combatants and how we will treat noncombatants on the battlefield. The jus ad bellum doctrine is the standard war between the nation’s issues of what...
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...Capstone final project Student’s name Course Title Instructor Date submitted Is United States justified to adopt a first-strike policy against independent nations in war on terrorism? The attack on United States on September 2001 brought the truth and reality of terrorism to the land of America in a way that most people had not imagined. Over three thousand people lost their lives. With that several innocent lives lost, America and other friendly nations joined to condemn terrorism. United States accused Taliban government of Afghanistan of harboring perpetrators. The accusation led the United States to begin military operations in Afghanistan. Many nations accepted the military operations as a justifiable response. The Taliban became an easy target because they were sympathizers of terrorist. After a short successful military operations in Afghanistan, United States turned attention to Iraq. They began to build a case against the regime government of Saddam Hussein. The United States suggested that Iraq had also been supporting terrorist and developing nuclear weapons. It was after those inflammatory suggestions about Iraq that a different debate surrounding military operations in that country started to emerge. In September, 2002, American government published a document titled The National Security Strategy. The President, George Bush, pointed the enemy of twenty century as a shadowy network of individuals who were out to harm the society with inexpensive weapon...
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...Concept of “Just War” BY: Ahmed Bayoumy Moter 201400746 Philosophy 101 Massacre at first glance is not an accepted act by humanitarian authorities. As Predominantly killing people cannot be considered a moral action if we defined the ethical acts according to the cultural relativism or even ethical subjectivism. Nonetheless, the concept of Just War (JW), developed from the time of St. Augustine, has another point of view regarding butchery. As it states that to start an ethically justifiable war it must be for a just cause, declared by a lawful authority, the last solution after trying all the possible ways of solving the problem, and have a high probability of success [1]. The theory of JW is divided into three main segments:...
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...IInternational Relations Theories The following three theories are key to international relations and contribute to the framework of ideologies within it: realism, liberalism and critical theory. These three theories shape the views and consensus of International Relations and tend to categorise the general public into one of the three groups. However, this is a highly controversial statement due to the fact there are no clear definitions of realism, liberalism or critical theory, just differences throughout them. For example a key difference would be that realists make the basic assumption that the international system is anarchic where as liberals believe in institutions such as the U.N. can intervene effectively on state issues, there are also conflicting views between the three on issues such as war, the economy and major corporations. Within realism there is this sense of belief of “self-interest” this is a theme seen throughout Mearshermiers article Australians should fear the rise of China. Mearshamiers opening statement quotes “It is likely to lead to intense security competition with US – and considerable potential for war”. In a brief summary Mearshermier talks about how with this augmentation of Chinas power, surrounding countries such as the United States of America and Australia should be prepared to take action and prepare for war. This is a key ideology of realism, as although they do not encourage war in anyway they believe that war will always exist and...
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...War is a tricky subject, and in this case after the attacks from ISIS on our embassy’s, after the attacks on American civilians, we still cannot go to war according to Just War Theory and our moral values, as badly as the American people may want to go to war, we cannot and must not engage ISIS militarily with a full standing army, we have to punish them in other ways. Just War Theory is conducted in three parts, the initiation of war, known as jus ad bellum, the conducting of the war itself, jus in bello, and finally the aftermath of war, known as, jus post bellum (Moser and McDonald, 2016a). Jus ad bellum is the initiation of war and it states that war must have a just cause and that war must be taken by a legitimate authority, and in this situation, both of the characteristics mentioned previously are present. Yes, we have a just cause, and yes, the United States is a legitimate authority. However, we need to look at everything about jus ad bellum, “armed conflict is taken as a ‘“last resort’” and all other means have been exhausted.” Let us not forget that “a just war requires a “‘right intention”’ and to not be motivated by aggression” (Moser and McDonald, 2016a). In this situation, the American...
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...Just War theory is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics studied by theologians, ethicists, policy makers and military leaders. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. The criteria are split into two groups: ‘the right to go to war’ and ‘right conduct in war’ . The first concerns the morality of going to war and the second with moral conduct within war. Recently there have been calls for the inclusion of a third category of just war theory - jus post bellum - dealing with the morality of post-war settlement and reconstruction. Just War theory postulates that war, while very terrible, is not always the worst option. There may be responsibilities so important, atrocities which can be prevented or outcomes so undesirable they justify war. Origins The Indian epic, the Mahabharata, offers one of the first written discussions of a 'just war'. In it, one of five ruling brothers asks if the suffering caused by war can ever be justified, and then a long discussion ensues between the siblings, establishing criteria like proportionality, just means, just cause, and fair treatment of captives and the wounded. The war in Mahabharata is preceded by context that develops the "just cause" for the war including last minute efforts to reconcile differences to avoid war. At the beginning of the war, there is the discussion of "just conduct" appropriate...
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