“From Readings on the Philosophy of Religion”: An Analytical Reconstruction of the Proofs of God’s Existence by V.D. Kudryavtsev-Platonov

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the reconstruction of the fundamental premises of the arguments for the existence of God that formulated by V.D. Kudryavtsev-Platonov (1828–1891). The paper is also devoted to the analysis of these arguments. Kudryavtsev-Platonov follows the principle that philosophical proof of rational truths (such as the existence of the world, our self, God, truth, etc.) is not proof in a strictly logical or mathematical sense, but a clarification and justification of the content of the vague idea of the Divine. Philosopher proposes the following ordering of arguments, classifying them into three types: cosmological, teleological, and a set of psychological arguments (ontological, epistemological, strictly psychological, historical, and moral). We show that most of the premises on which the philosopher relies in constructing his system of arguments are developed within the system of transcendental monism. The principle that “an effect no longer implies a cause” is taken without further justification, leaving the epistemological, psychological, and moral arguments vulnerable to criticism. We also note that the historical argument proves the weakest one. We show that the teleological argument successfully counters some modern atheistic criticism.