Study of Swinburne’s Argument for God from Consciousness and Critics of J. L. Mackie

Subject Areas : Philosophy

محیا رفیعی بندری ¹ (ندارد)
امیر عباس علیزمانی ² (ندارد)

Received: 2011-05-10 Accepted : 2011-10-25 Published : 2011-09-23

Keywords: God, Consciousness, Richard Swinburne, J. L. Mackie,

Abstract :

The theist philosopher, Richard Swinburne, believes that the emergenceof “consciousness” in human as an immaterial substance is an argumentfor God. He also believes that scientific explanations cannot explainconsciousness and thus intrinsic dualism of brain events and mentalevents is unavoidable. In contrast, J. L. Mackie, another Britishphilosopher, confirms that materialistic explanations of consciousnessare faced with difficulties, but it is simpler from theistic explanationand thus he denies the dualism of brain events and mental events andSwinburne’s argument for God from consciousness. In this article it istried, by stating the reasons of explanatory inadequacy of Mackie’smaterialistic explanation of consciousness, to consider theisticexplanation of consciousness as most reasonable and simplestexplanation for consciousness and it is an inductive argument for God.