Psychology

Final Exam
Choose three questions, and write ½ – 1 page on each. Answers must be typed, double spaced, with 12. point font.

1. Give a description of Einstein’s opinion on God in relationship to nature and his understanding of “cosmic religious feeling. Be sure to indicate why some viewed Einstein as a deist, and why some viewed him as an atheist. Also be sure to include your opinion with regards to which you believe he was.

2. Why does Keiji Nishitani understand religion as a necessity? Be sure to include his understanding on how individuals come to the question concerning religion, why understanding religion in a purely functional sense is problematic, and how religion addresses the experience of emptiness and meaninglessness in an individual’s life. What is your opinion on Nishitani’s take on the phenomenon of religion?

3. What is the ontological argument? Be sure to include a description as to why Anselm believed that the “that thought which no thought can be thought greater than” is distinguishable from other thoughts, why the fool cannot deny the existence of God, and why the fool can say in his heart what cannot be thought. Also include your opinion on the argument.

4. Give a description of Descartes version of the ontological argument. Be sure to include a description as to why the property of existence is a perfection, and how Descartes uses this understanding to conclude that God cannot exist only in the mind alone. Also be sure to give your opinion on the argument.

5. Describe Kant’s criticisms of the ontological argument. How does he come to understand that it is mere tautology?

6. Describe three of Thomas Aquinas’ cosmological arguments and give your opinion on each.

7. Describe the ontological argument in the context of William Paley’s analogy of the watch and the watchmaker. Include in your description an explanation of why a rock would not be understood as designed but a watch would.

8. What does David Hume conclude about the nature of God’s existence? How does he come to this conclusion based on the nature of the world?

9. How does Kant come to an understanding of God, and reward and punishment in an afterlife by way of reason?

10. What is Nietzsche’s take on morality? Be sure to include a description of herd-instinct, master, and slave morality. Also include your opinion on Nietzsche’s position.