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Reply to this paragraph: The transcendental argument for the…
Reply to this paragraph:
The transcendental argument for the presence of God is a philosophical argument that aims to establish the existence of God by demonstrating that it is logically necessary for certain facts to exist (GotQuestions.org., 2009). In other words, the argument tries to prove that God must exist because it is logically necessary for certain truths to exist. According to the argument, some facts, such as the presence of moral rules, are inexplicable unless a metaphysical source, namely God, is brought into the discussion as an explanatory factor. The argument contends that a source that is beyond human comprehension is required to explain the reality of these facts.
The argument begins by noting that certain truths, such as the existence of absolute moral law, cannot be explained by appeal to material evidence. It then notes that the only way to explain these truths is to appeal to a transcendent source.
The argument then notes that since these truths are necessary for the moral law, it logically follows that God must exist for the moral law to exist. Thus, the argument concludes that since there is an absolute moral law, then God must exist.
The standard-form categorical syllogism is as follows:
Major Premise: If God does not exist, then there is no absolute moral law.
Minor Premise: There is an absolute moral law, that is.
Conclusion: Therefore, God exists, that is.
This syllogism is valid because it follows the standard form of a categorical syllogism. In particular, it has a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion that contains a major term (predicate) and a minor term (subject) (Copi, et al., 2016). The major term is “God,” and the minor term is “absolute moral law,” and the middle term is “not exist.” The major premise and the minor premise each contain an affirmative or negative copula that uses “to be” verbs (e.g., is, are, am, was, were, be, been, being) in both premises and the conclusion.
The Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God is important in the realm of apologetics because it attempts to demonstrate the existence of God by showing that it is logically necessary for certain truths to exist. It is this logical necessity that the argument claims is needed to explain the existence of these truths. The standard-form categorical syllogism that captures the standard form of a categorical syllogism. This valid syllogism allows for the argument to be properly understood and evaluated.
