Argument from Chance

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz Łukasiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Evidential Argument ◽  
Theistic Argument ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Argument From Evil ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Small Probabilities

In the article, first I present the atheistic argument from pointless evil and the argument from chance. The essence of the argument from chance consists in the incompatibility of the existence of purposeless events and the existence of a God who planned the universe to the last detail. Second, I would like to show that there is a relation between the evidential argument from evil and the argument from chance. An analysis of the theistic argument from small probabilities is a helpful starting point for the presentation of how the two arguments are related.

Changes in the Prognosis of Functional Psychoses Since the Days of Kraepelin

1967 ◽  
Vol 113 (501) ◽  
pp. 813-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Örnulv Ödegård
Keyword(s):  
Special Problem ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
General Point ◽  
Course Of Illness ◽  
Dynamic Reasoning ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Functional Psychoses ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Universe

My choice of Kraepelin as a point of departure for this lecture has definite reasons. If one wants to stay within the field of clinical psychiatry (as opposed to psychiatric history), that is as far back as one can reasonably go. By this no slight is intended upon the pre-Kraepelinian psychiatrists. For our topic Henry Maudsley would indeed have been a most appropriate starting point, and by no means for reasons of courtesy. His general point of view is admirably sound as a basis for the scientific study of prognosis in psychiatry. I quote: “There is no accident in madness. Causality, not casualty, governs its appearance in the universe, and it is very far from being a good and sufficient practice simply to mark its phenomena and straightway to pass on as if they belonged not to an order but to a disorder of events that called for no explanation.” On the special problem of prognosis he shows his clinical acumen by stating that the outlook is poor when the course of illness is insidious, but this only means that these cases develop their psychoses on the basis of mental deviations which go very far back in the patient's life, so that in fact they are generally in a chronic stage at the time of their first admission to hospital. Here he actually corrects a mistake which is still quite often made. He shows his dynamic attitude when he says that prognosis is to a large extent modified by external conditions, in particular by the attitude of friends and relatives. Maudsley's dynamic reasoning was limited by the narrow framework of the degeneration hypothesis of those days. He had a sceptical attitude towards classification, which he regarded as artificial and dangerously pseudo-exact. His own classification was deliberately provisional, with very wide groups. He held that a description of various sub-forms of chronic insanity was useless, as it would mean nothing but a tiresome enumeration of unconnected details.

Skeptical Theism and Rowe's New Evidential Argument from Evil

Noûs ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bergmann
Keyword(s):  
Skeptical Theism ◽  
Evidential Argument ◽  
Argument From Evil

scholarly journals Isotropization of Homogeneous Cosmological Models

1974 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 273-282
Author(s):  
I. D. Novikov
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Background Radiation ◽  
Cosmological Models ◽  
Matter Distribution ◽  
Cosmological Singularity ◽  
Universe Expand ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Microwave Background Radiation ◽  
Friedmann Cosmological Models ◽  
The Universe

Observations primarily of the microwave background radiation show that the Universe expands isotropically with a high degree of accuracy at the present time and that the matter distribution is homogeneous on a large scale. Thus, the Friedmann cosmological models are a good approximation today for the expanding Universe. This is valid for at least some period of time in the past too. But how did the Universe expand and what was the matter distribution close to the starting point, near the cosmological singularity?

Gratuitous evil and divine providence

2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN R. RHODA
Keyword(s):  
Divine Providence ◽  
Gratuitous Evil ◽  
Evidential Argument ◽  
Argument From Evil ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractDiscussions of the evidential argument from evil generally pay little attention to how different models of divine providence constrain the theist's options for response. After describing four models of providence and general theistic strategies for engaging the evidential argument, I articulate and defend a definition of ‘gratuitous evil’ that renders the theological premise of the argument uncontroversial for theists. This forces theists to focus their fire on the evidential premise, enabling us to compare models of providence with respect to how plausibly they can resist it. I then assess the four models, concluding that theists are better off vis-à-vis the evidential argument if they reject meticulous providence.

The Evidential Argument from Evil

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-486
Author(s):  
Brendan Sweetman ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Evidential Argument ◽  
Argument From Evil

The Evidential Argument from Evil

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-224
Author(s):  
Glen T. Martin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Evidential Argument ◽  
Argument From Evil

Book Review: The Evidential Argument from Evil

1998 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-461
Author(s):  
Isaac M. T. Mwase
Keyword(s):  
Evidential Argument ◽  
Argument From Evil
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