Introduction
Right from the origin of intellectual enterprise, especially from written history, there has been always this curiosity to speculate on the primary sources of all things. This search which started in the earliest times of human intellectual activity and which received different notions culminated in the medieval era when the primary sources or the primordial force of all things was understood and interpreted as “God”[1]. Theocentrism or divinism was the dominant throughout that period.
Between the late 14th and early 15th century, the Renaissance[2] emerged, and so there was a sudden transition from “divinism” to humanism: then emerged later was the modern era when the existence of the medieval “God” was questioned with a flurry of refutations.
Hence, while this write-up does not join issues with any of the mainline traditional God-talk arguments, it charts a new course by trying to demonstrate that the emotive tendency of man is a pointer to God’s existence. This is what is called fearological pointer to God’s existence.
Nevertheless, this argument which in not inductive but deductive, is written based on the validity of the arguments; and not based on the soundness of the argument or the truth of its proposition.
Definition
According to this argument, since the reality of fear in man is inevitable, and he strives towards perfection and sustainability of himself and the universe; then there must have be the existence of an absolute being who orders all things emotively, which is called God[3].
The Argument
The human being (in contradistinction to other persons- robot or algorithms)[4] as a rational being is capable of doing anything within his reach for self preservation. This tendency continues to the point that even the Seven Wonders of the World no longer beat the imagination of the civilized unless those who have not witnessed the “techno-scientific surprise packs”, which is as a result of the reality of the time, that is, the “age-of-minutest-techno-wonder”.
A critical examination of this human tendency concludes that it is as a result of ‘fear’[5]. This is because; it is fear which spurs man’s intentionality’s, strivings or desiring[6]. And so, this striving gears towards self and societal preservation. However, since the creative cum domineering nature of man makes him to sometimes take things to their extremity, such as construction of bombs, missiles, acids and other weapons of mass destruction, fear now spurs man to produce defensive tools and methods as well as offensive tools; which is motivated by fear.
Therefore, this sense of protecting and improving on life with regards to self-preservation is a pointer that there must be an absolute being who must have instilled this emotive feeling in man for the preservation of humanity (even though they use it maliciously) and its sustainability. This absolute being is called God.
The Syllogistic Demonstration
The human person has the self-consciousness of his emotive feeling of fear.
His emotive feeling of fear spurs him to self and societal preservation and sustainability: which cannot be non-teleological. The teleology of the emotive feeling of fear of the human person must be ordered by an absolute Being.
Therefore, this absolute Being is called God.
[1] Initially, there were many different between the Greek tradition and Judeo-Christian thought. The Greeks tended to be polytheists, whereas the Jews and the Christians believed in one, supreme God. (Cf. W. F. Lawhead, The Voyage of Discovery: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.2002, p.111)
[2] It is the period of rebirth. This period was characterized by humanism. (Cf. O. J. Adindu, O. O. Victor, Philosophy of Science: History, Problems & Prospects, Lagos: De-Heritage Concept, 2016, p.30)
[3] This definition is original to the author
[4] There are robots and other contraptions that look and act like human…, since they function intelligently, (by ways of artificial or programmed intelligence) they might be regarded as a ‘person’ that are non human. (Cf. I. M. Onyeocha, Beginning Metaphysics, Washington: Paideia Publishers, 2009, p.197)
[5] D. Subba, Philosophy of Fearism: Life is Conducted, Directed and Controlled by the Fear, UK: Xlibris Publishers, 2014, p.65. This is a salient point gotten from the summary of the first page of the sources of fear to make a connection.
[6] D. Subba, Philosophy of Fearism: Life is Conducted, Directed and Controlled by the Fear, p.186
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