For A Genuine Empiricist The Phrase God Exists Is Meaningless Essays

For a Genuine empiricist the phrase "God Exists" is meaningless To come to a proper understanding of the question, a few key concepts must first be established. What is meant by the term Empiricism? To an empiricist, the occurrence of consciousness is simply the product of experience. It is assumed that all human knowledge is acquired from experience and observation alone. It is believed that we are born with an empty slate; it is through sense perception that our knowledge begins to form and shape our mind. Empiricism is against the idea of spontaneous or a priori thought (knowledge that is independent of all particular experience). They believe in a posteriori knowledge, which is derives from experience alone. The belief opposing Empiricism is that of Rationalism. In this philosophy, reason is used to obtain knowledge. One can be born with innate ideas. What is meant by the term God? There is not one simple definition that can describe God. Different cultures have different conceptions of deity. One can be monotheistic, duo theistic, polytheist ic or believe in the trinity. Others believe it merely a force or the world itself. For our purpose we will use a definition given from the Encarta world English Dictionary. "GOD, Supreme Being: the being believed in monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Christianity to be the all-powerful all-knowing creator of the universe, worshiped as the only God." The word exist must also be defined. For the statement "God exists", we must understand what it is to exist. Existence is to have real being whether material or spiritual. IT is the state or fact of being, entity. Now that a proper explanation is given of the terms for the argument "Why a genuine empiricist cannot believe in a supreme being", can take its form. God is considered to be an innate idea by many religious on goers. God cannot be completely comprehended. This is one of the greatest unknowns that faces mankind. If he cannot be perceived and no concept of him is present at birth then it would be extremely diffic ult to obtain knowledge of him. It is empiricism itself that criticizes the belief in miracles and visions. God cannot be perceived under normal circumstances. With a few exceptions he is inconceivable. For a true empiricist the existence of God does not coincide with their own teachings. Experience is everything to empiricists. The main criticism that empiricist hold against rationalist is the their belief of innate ideas. To assume that some thoughts could come directly from the mind rather than being acquired by experience is thought to be obscure. An innate idea is a belief or idea present at birth in the soul of an individual. With no actual experience. Ideas that are thought to be of an innate nature are those of substance, infinity, and God. There is no adequate empirical explanation for the origin of these ideas and they cannot be explained by observation or experience. If God is a priori (innate idea), then for an empiricist to believe in a Supreme Being it would be going against ones own teachings. David Hume (1711-1776), a radical Empiricist in his time, could give no rational explanation regarding these concepts. "Nothing can ever be present to the mind but an image or perception." Hume held the belief in only a moral existence. He did not try to argue the existence of a God, although he did not try to prove God's existence. If the idea of God is not present at birth, then where might it have been obtained? There are countries worldwide that believe in some form of Deity. For such a universal belief, there must be some origin or cause. The idea of this God must have been present at birth as a priori or must have in some way been experienced, a posteriori. Going back to one of the basic arguments brought forth by empiricism that is for one to believe, one must use observation to form knowledge. God is beyond the power of human conception. Let alone observation. How can one observe God? It is not possible to perceive him. If it is impossible to experience a Supreme Being how than can one be thought