Five Proofs of the Existence of God Paperback – August 14, 2017

Superb, clear, irrefutable logic and well written; but more importantly, understandable by the layman.This material can only be stated to a certain degree of simplicity because the formal logic proofs of the existence of God can only be made so simple. The author professor has the gift of writing with great clarity, making the material as simple as is possible.I especially delighted in the refutations of the historical rebuttals of the five proofs. Even the great atheist philosopher David Hume of Scotland failed to disprove even one of the five proofs, as shown in the book, although he tried mighty throughout his lifetime.The author concludes that in the world of philosophers today, it is generally agreed (it will never be universally agreed) that these five proofs are true and correct; whereby atheism and agnosticism have been proven false.This is a difficult and challenging book that might take a non philosophy major, say, 100 hours to slowly read and reread and ponder to the point of agreeing all five proofs are correct and true and the great historical objections have been counter refuted. But it is well worth the effort: for, after all, what book or idea could be more important?The format is wisely chosen: first, a layman’s summary of each proof, next the formal logic syllogism itself, next the counter rebuttals of the great historical rebuttals of each of the five proofs.All in all, well done Professor Feser!

In this book Feser competently argues that God exists given a certain Scholastic metaphysical framework. Whether you think the arguments succeed depends on whether that metaphysical framework is true.The Aristotelian proof argues from the actualization of potentials to something fully actual. The neo-Platonic proof argues from composite things to something simple and non-composite. The Rationalist proof argues from things that do not explain themselves to something that contains within itself its own sufficient reason for existence. The Thomistic proof argues from things whose essence is not identical to their existence to something whose essence must be identical to its existence. The Augustinian proof argues from the existence of eternal truths to an eternal mind that contains these truths.Feser devotes a chapter on the divine attributes and how the proofs entail them. He also devotes a chapter to objections of various kinds.Why did I give five stars? Even though I don't find the arguments compelling, I recommend the book. It's well-written, well-structured, and covers arguments and topics that generally don't get a lot of airtime in the modern God debate. The only possible fault of this book is that although Feser utilizes Scholastic metaphysics to undergird the proofs, he generally doesn't provide reasons to think those metaphysics are true. I don't know if this should be counted as a fault though, because Feser has another book entitled 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘴 which presumably (I haven't read it) provides reasons to accept the metaphysical framework that undergirds the proofs. As it is, 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 is a concise book, and a thorough explication of Scholastic metaphysics would turn it into a slog, so I don't fault Feser for leaving that job to his other book.P.S.This is NOT a book about Aquinas' Five Ways, nor is it merely a summary of other thinkers' arguments. Although these proofs have been around for centuries, the particular expression of them in this book is unique to Feser.

Anyone interested in philosophy and in classical theism can benefit from this book.Five classical proofs for the existence of God (by Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Plotinus, and Leibniz) are not only clearly articulated and explained, but also defended against ancient and modern critics. Prof. Feser shows how these 5 proofs are still viable and relevant today, having survived centuries of scrutiny.I loved how Prof. Feser first offers an informal, narrative, colloquial version of the proof; and then a more formal one. The informal take makes you understand, the formal exposition helps you to get the structure.Second part of the book could be a book in itself. It is about the nature of God and the importance of natural theology, so basically it is a handy reference for all theists.

Prof. Feser sets forth a tough task - take some very detailed philosophical argumentation, and make it palatable for a reader who does not have a strong background in philosophy. He succeeds admirably.I admit that I do have some background and understanding of philosophy, but I have not delved into these specific depths before, so it was pretty much all new info for me, and I had no trouble following the logic and argumentation.He clearly defines each argument and how it works. He gives good historical background on them, providing helpful examples and scenarios to put flesh on the arguments.Finally, Feser also addresses the most common attempts to refute these arguments, and cuts them all down. For those engaged in the debate about God's existence, these pseudo-refutations are bandied about wantonly, but the final chapter shows where these attempts fail to disprove the five arguments. That chapter alone was worth the price of the book, though I am greatful for the prior sections on the arguments, of course. I appreciated this book so much that I will be purchasing some of Dr. Feser's other books, and continue to educate myself on metaphysics.