Philosophical Freedom-The Question of God's Existence

The essay I chose is “Is There a God?” by Bertrand Russell which was commissioned but not published by Illustrated Magazine in 1952. The primary point in the article is to encourage philosophical freedom among individuals. The very first thing that Russell states is that the question of religion and the belief in God and other such dogmas, are completely dependent on the location and the community of the individuals. This is certainly relevant to interpret the environment and society of the people in question. When one looks at monotheism (belief in one God) by its secular success, it exceeds all other religions Russell concluded. Russell says, though, as our world changes throughout the ages that this point of the belief of one God has become less relevant and decisive. Russell gives evidence of the falseness of these beliefs by Locke “undermining” the theories of the old arguments of Catholic theologians of Saint Augustine to today. Most of Locke’s followers soon became atheists because of the evidence by Locke, even though Locke himself was a devout Christian. Another argument Russell introduced was known as the First Cause. This argument states that since everything that happens has a cause, there must be a first from which all the others were born. The argument, to Russell, is insufficient and not satisfactory in its answer. It is nebulous and is infinite with no ending. Thus, the argument has been watered down by the weariness of the idea. An answer with no end is very tiresome and cumbersome. Plus, there is no adequate data to support the argument. In modern days, many modern theologians have abandoned the scholastic arguments and have turned to more vague and ambiguous ideas that have multitudes of meanings and interpretations. Russell says that most modernists have turned their appeal from the philosophical mind to the more susceptible heart. These theologians have accepted the idea of humans evolving psychologically becoming more loving to one another and being an entity that was destined to be in God’s image. This has of course, been disproven by many men that have swayed from the mold. Hitler is a prime example of the flawed argument the modernists have given. Another valid point Russell brings up in his essay is the overestimation of most theologians of the importance of Earth and its role in the universe. He brings up that we are a fragment of a fragment of a fragment of space and why would the ruler of the universe care what we do or who we are in our corner of the cosmos. The main ideal Russell is trying to stress is that of philosophical freedom, the importance to analyze and contemplate issues in our culture. He believes that people should not be oppressed or discriminated against by their opinions and how they stand on certain topics. Freedom is one thing he is very adamant about throughout the entire essay. I believe that he thinks that this “freedom of thinking” is more important than traditional social and religious beliefs. Russell states, “Freedom of thought and the habit of giving weight to evidence are matters of far greater moral import than the belief in this or that theological dogma” (1). This speaks to me as a message of analyzing the data and the facts and then making your own opinion about an issue. It is a great lesson that all should learn to, truly, make an educated guess with data supporting your hypothesis.
My response to Russell’s essay is from an analytical point of view. He makes great points from a philosophical point, but hard data is rather scarce. He has some historical citations within his text, but to me it is not solid enough to sway my decision either way. Now looking at it philosophically, it is astounding and tremendously accurate. He makes very relevant and valid points throughout his writing, expanding my mind into a vessel of concentrated contemplating. He really opens your mind to possibilities that, previously, were not even churning in your thoughts. It is excellently well written, incorporated with much thought, time, and research. Really, the essay is full-proof and is need of little to none improvement. It was not an essay of hard historical data, but a pool of philosophical thought.

Russell, Bertrand. "Is there a God?." The Campaign for Philosophical Freedom. Illustrated Magazine, 1952. Web. 29 Mar 2010. .

Essay-Is God's Existence a Fact?

The source I decided to use was an unofficial essay by Thomas Lourdeau entitled “Essay-is God’s Existence a Fact”. In this essay the author, Lourdeau, tries to explain his point that God is a real entity using moral law, The Cosmological Argument, and the very vastness and complexity of our universe. In his essay the first argument he presents is the “universal” moral law or code that all human societies obey. Essentially it is the law that unofficially governs all civilizations and aspects of human life. He uses examples that say in our society the sins or murder, rape, and other various crimes are not tolerated and our dealt with accordingly. He believes that man cannot govern man and that there is indeed and outside force or being ruling us. He asserts in his essay that “a God does exist, and that he governs this universe based on an absolute moral law using these absolutes to determine what is truly (as opposed to subjectively) right and wrong” (Lourdeau 1). Also in his paper, he uses The Cosmological Argument to justify his claim of God’s existence. This argument basically states that there must be something that never began, something that created and designed the entire universe and all that inhabit it. The argument uses questions that lead to new ones to figure out where things began. For example, if humans came from dirt, dirt came from atoms, who made the atoms? The conclusion to this is that something is definitely everlasting. Some atheists believe that the universe is an eternal being and always been. Most, though, finally do admit that by their standard of beliefs that something must have created the universe, an example would be The Big Bang Theory. But it is very hard to believe that the universe could just poof out of an explosion and be exactly aligned so that we as humans thrive on Earth. This leads me into the final point of his argument which is from the human perspective. The Earth and universe as a whole is not random but orderly and obeys rules such as gravity, laws of motions, and other mechanics of science. Also it is hard to believe that randomly an explosion occurred and our Earth was perfectly in place to obtain enough sun light for us to survive. Another example is the moon’s gravitational pull. If not for it our coastlines would be sporadic and would irregularly fluctuate.
My response to his essay is it is very well thought out and well researched. It brings up some interesting points that intrigue me. It is true that there is a code that even we live by, a code that has been here for ages (since at least the Ten Commandments). I also agree with him about man not being able to rule themselves or as we have seen in the past there would be eminent chaos. Perhaps there is an eternal hand guiding us, showing us the way to truth and prosperity. The Cosmological Argument is also fascinating in the fact that it really a never ending question. It is such a confusing philosophy that it captivates the expanses of my mind and really pushes my brain to its limits of knowledge. This argument also brings up the fact that atheists contradict themselves and do not have enough facts to full disprove that there is a divine being watching over us. The argument does help validate the theory of creationism and does bring up major points that should be considered for a sound opinion on the topic. The last argument, to me, is the real hard facts that God, in fact, does exist. The universe is very orderly and do obey all known laws that have been studied for centuries by some of the greatest minds in human history. It is very hard to believe that everything just happened without some outside deity engineering this great feat. The depth of the research and facts are just too important to simply overlook for a proper decision.


Lourdeau, Thomas. "Essay-is God's Existence a Fact?." Society. associatedcontent, 20 Apr 2007. Web. 25 Mar 2010. .