Does God exist?

2025-03-10T14:41:59Z

Justin: /* To understand the debate */

{{Debate
|type=for/against
|topic=the existence of God
|progress=Debate under construction
|introduction={{Introductory subsection
|title=Definition
|content=God is the transcendent Creator of the Universe. This is what we mean when we speak of God, leaving aside the thousand and one particular conceptions we may have of him.
}}{{Introductory subsection
|title=Kant did not abolish Metaphysics
|content=For most continental philosophers, rational questioning about the existence of God is no longer relevant after the Kantian Critique. Following many other contemporary philosophers, the analytical philosopher Nicholas Woterstorff, a specialist in Kant, questions the skeptical reading of the master of Konigsberg: "In my opinion, although Kant denied that we can have knowledge of God, he defended not only the possibility of judgments about God, but also the possibility of judgments about God based solely on reason."[1] According to this expert, Kant has been (very) misinterpreted.
}}{{Introductory subsection
|title=A revival of the debate over the last few decades
|content="Never since the end of the Middle Ages have the philosophy of religion and philosophical theology been as flourishing as in the last forty years in the philosophy of the analytic tradition. During this period, analytic philosophers have had intense and serious discussions on topics such as the relationship between God and evil, the precise nature of divine omnipotence, the question of whether God knows in advance what persons will do freely, whether God is eternal, whether he is impassible, simple, and so on."1 Clearly, one can no longer say that metaphysical questions must be excluded from philosophy, unless one is very unfamiliar with the Anglo-Saxon domain.

See Nicholas Wolterstorff, "The Origins of Analytical Philosophy of Religion", online in Revue Théo-Rème, 2/2012. Link:
https://journals.openedition.org/theoremes/265
}}
|wikipedia-articles={{Wikipedia article
|page=God
}}{{Wikipedia article
|page=Arguments for the existence of God
}}
|pro-arguments={{Pro argument
|page=God is the first cause of the universe
|displayed-title=God is the first cause of the universe
}}{{Pro argument
|page=The order and complexity of the world presuppose a Creator God
|displayed-title=The order and complexity of the world presuppose a creator
}}{{Pro argument
|page=There are divine interventions
|displayed-title=There are divine interventions
}}{{Pro argument
|page=God created a morality independent of men
|displayed-title=There is a morality independent of men
}}{{Pro argument
|page=Only God is the guarantor of the reality and veracity of the world.
|displayed-title=Only God is the guarantor of the reality and veracity of the world.
}}{{Pro argument
|page=God's existence is contained in his concept
|displayed-title=God's existence is contained in his concept
}}{{Pro argument
|page=We have concepts within us that only God could have created.
|displayed-title=We have concepts within us that only God could have created.
}}{{Pro argument
|page=The God hypothesis is simpler than the atheist hypothesis
|displayed-title=The God hypothesis is simpler than the atheist hypothesis
}}{{Pro argument
|page=Human nature aspires to God
|displayed-title=Human nature aspires to God
}}{{Pro argument
|page=God's existence can be experienced with immediate certainty
|displayed-title=God's existence can be experienced with immediate certainty
}}{{Pro argument
|page=Freedom is inexplicable within the framework of materialism
|displayed-title=Human freedom is inexplicable in atheism
}}
|con-arguments={{Con argument
|page=No evidence of a god
|displayed-title=No evidence of a god
}}{{Con argument
|page=There is no spirit outside matter
|displayed-title=There is no spirit outside matter
}}{{Con argument
|page=There is too much suffering and injustice for there to be a god
|displayed-title=There is too much suffering and injustice for there to be a god
}}{{Con argument
|page=Religions contradict each other
|displayed-title=Religions contradict each other
}}{{Con argument
|page=Human freedom contradicts the existence of a god
|displayed-title=Man is free
}}{{Con argument
|page=The absence of human freedom contradicts the existence of a god
|displayed-title=Man is determined
}}{{Con argument
|page=God is a contradictory concept
|displayed-title=God is a contradictory concept
}}{{Con argument
|page=Human existence is no match for God
|displayed-title=Human existence is no match for God
}}{{Con argument
|page=God is an invention
|displayed-title=God is an invention
}}{{Con argument
|page=God is but the name of our ignorance
|displayed-title=God is but the name of our ignorance
}}{{Con argument
|page=Arguments for the existence of God are all argumentative biases
|displayed-title=Arguments for the existence of God are all argumentative biases
}}{{Con argument
|page=The universe is too empty, too ancient and too vast to correspond to the God of religions.
|displayed-title=The universe is too empty, too ancient and too vast to correspond to the God of religions.
}}
|pro-bibliography={{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Anselme de Cantorbery
|work=Monologion. Proslogion
|publisher=Cerf
|place=Paris
|date=1986
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Averroès
|work=Discours décisif
|publisher=Flammarion
|place=Paris
|date=1996
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=George Berkeley
|work=Trois dialogues entre Hylas et Philonous
|publisher=Flammarion
|place=Paris
|date=1999 (1713)
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=René Descartes
|work=Méditations métaphysiques
|publisher=Flammarion
|place=Paris
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Fénelon
|work=Traité de l'existence de Dieu
|publisher=Éditions Universitaires
|date=1995
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Étienne Gilson
|work=L'Athéisme difficile
|publisher=Vrin
|place=Paris
|date=1979
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Frédéric Guillaud
|work=Dieu existe
|publisher=Le Cerf
|place=Paris
|date=2013
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Karl Jaspers
|work=Introduction à la philosophie
|publisher=Plon
|place=Paris
|date=1951
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Raymond Ruyer
|work=Dieu des religions, Dieu de la science
|publisher=Flammarion
|place=Paris
|date=1970
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Richard Swinburne
|work=Y a-t-il un Dieu ?
|publisher=Ithaque
|place=Paris
|date=2009
}}{{Pro bibliographical reference
|authors=Jean Staune
|work=Notre existence a-t-elle un sens ? (Une enquête scientifique et philosophique)
|publisher=Fayard, coll. Pluriel
|date=2017
}}
|con-bibliography={{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Michel-Yves Bolloré, Olivier Bonnassies
|work=Dieu, la science, les preuves : l'aube d'une révolution
|publisher=Guy Trédaniel
|date=2021
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Paul Davies
|work=L'esprit de Dieu
|publisher=Hachette Littérature
|date=1998
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=André Comte-Sponville
|article=Dieu existe-t-il ?
|work=L'esprit de l'athéisme
|publisher=Albin Michel
|place=Paris
|date=2006
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Richard Dawkins
|work=Pour en finir avec Dieu
|publisher=Robert Laffont
|place=Paris
|date=2008
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Ludwig Feuerbach
|work=L'essence du christianisme
|publisher=Gallimard
|place=Paris
|date=1992 (1841)
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Richard Dawkins
|work=L'horloger aveugle
|publisher=Robert Laffont
|place=Paris
|date=1999
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Sigmund Freud
|work=L'avenir d'une illusion
|date=1927
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Christopher Hitchens
|work=Dieu n'est pas grand
|publisher=Belfond
|place=Paris
|date=2009
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Michel Onfray
|work=Traité d'athéologie
|publisher=Grasset
|place=Paris
|date=2005
}}{{Con bibliographical reference
|authors=Bertrand Russell
|work=Pourquoi je ne suis pas chrétien
|place=Montréal
|date=2011
}}
|bibliography={{Bibliographical reference
|authors=Jean-Paul Sartre
|work=L'existentialisme est un humanisme
|publisher=Gallimard
|place=Paris
|date=1946
}}{{Bibliographical reference
|authors=David Hume
|work=Dialogues sur la religion naturelle
|publisher=Folio
|date=2009
}}{{Bibliographical reference
|authors=Leszek Kołakowski
|work=Philosophie de la religion
|publisher=Gallimard
|date=1985
}}{{Bibliographical reference
|authors=Bernard Sève
|work=La question philosophique de l'existence de Dieu
|publisher=PUF
|date=1994
}}{{Bibliographical reference
|authors=Hans Küng
|work=Dieu existe-t-il ?
|publisher=Le Seuil
|date=1981
}}
|webliography={{Web reference
|link=https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arguments_sur_l God's_existence
|page=Arguments for the existence of God
|site=Wikipedia
}}{{Web reference
|link=https://agora.qc.ca/thematiques/mort/dossiers/le_dieu_pathetique_de_la_theologie
|page=The pathetic God of theology
|site=Agora Québec
}}{{Web reference
|link=https://journals.openedition.org/theoremes/265
|page=The origins of analytic philosophy of religion
|authors=Nicholas Wolterstorff
|site=ThéoRèmes magazine
|date=2012
}}
|con-videography={{Con video reference
|title=Proof of god's non-existence
|link=https://youtu.be/yUm6Hrqnqqk
}}
|videography={{Video reference
|title=Does science bring us closer to God? (Skeptical interview #7)
|link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qwln9eUdeg
}}
|related-debates={{Related debate
|page=Is belief in God beneficial?
}}{{Related debate
|page=Do religions converge?
}}{{Related debate
|page=Is religion compatible with Marxism?
}}{{Related debate
|page=Are science and religion compatible?
}}
|sections=Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality
|keywords=God, existence, first cause, materialism
}}

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Does God exist?