Criticisms
The argument from desire has attracted criticisms from both religious and non-religious commentators; whilst using it as evidence for God's existence, Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas did not consider it a valid argument for the existence of God on its own. In examining the use of the argument from desire in Aquinas's philosophy, historian Robert Pasnau criticises the argument as being "based on strong teleological assumptions few would accept today. It seems clear, contrary to his central assumption, that there are things in nature that have no point". Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud likewise considered God to be no more than a psychological "illusion" created by the mind in an attempt to fulfil innate human desires, rather than an actual existing entity.
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Famous quotes containing the word criticisms:
“The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour. Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes.”
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—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)