Even Atheists Agree that God Exists
4 Different Ways Things Can Exist and What It Means for the God Debate
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Are all the following claims true? Are they all the same kind of claim?
A rock exists.
France exists.
God exists.
Ghosts exist.
Well, as with most things in philosophy, it depends on your definition of existence.
I previously wrote about how arguments for and against the existence of god are ineffective, because they did little to convince people to change their belief about god.
In the comments, many expressed the opinion that the only way to exist was to have physical existence. This is to say that in order for something to exist, we must be able to perceive it with the physical senses (seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, hearing). It probably does not surprise you that such people were atheists. God cannot be physically perceived, thus god does not exist.
However, what this view fails to understand is that there are many ways in which something can be said to exist. Even without referring to any religious concept (such as a god), we claim that lots of things exist in ways that are not measurable by physical means.
To see how, let’s look at the four statements above.
A Rock Exists
This first statement is a claim about a physical object, a rock. To be a rock is to be a physical object. If we ask the question, does this rock exist, we would use our physical senses in order to determine the answer. For example, I would look to see if in fact there is a rock there or not.
Let’s call this Physically Exclusive Existence.
France Exists
At first glance, this claim seems to also be about physical objects; after all, we can point to a place, buildings, and people as evidence of France existing. But it is not that simple. Can we change the boundaries of France without destroying the country? What if different people called themselves French or had French citizenship? What if they didn’t speak French in France?
In short, the concept of a nation, while including physical properties, is not purely defined by physical aspects. If we try to answer the question, does France exist, we must consider non-physical properties as well as physical ones before giving an answer.
Let’s call this mode of existence Physically Inclusive Existence.
God Exists
This statement is perhaps the most controversial of the four. In a similar way to the question of France, questions about god(s) existence focuses heavily on nonphysical properties. Most major religious traditions in the world claim that while it is possible for god to be physical, it is not a necessary part of what god is. Necessary aspects of god might be something like being able to casually affect the world or existing outside of space/time.
Even Atheists say that god(s) exists. While they disagree with religious thinkers, atheists do say that god(s) is an idea in the minds of humans, or a human cultural artifact; thus god(s) exists but not in they way that a Muslim might say god exists.
Either way, we also see how non-physical properties, such as being an idea, or a shared cultural phenomena, can be enough to say that something exists.
Let us call this kind of existence Physically Independent Existence.
Ghosts Exist
This fourth type of claim pushes the connection to the physical even further. While most religions claim that god could physically exist, it is not possible for ghosts to exist physically. This is because what it is to be a ghost is to not have a physical form. If a ghost were to be a physical object, it would cease being a ghost. Thus, if we consider the question, do ghosts exist, we cannot bring any physical evidence to bear. Let us call this Physically Impossible existence.
To summarize, we can say that something exists in at least the following 4 ways:
Physically Exclusive Existence (A Stone)
Physically Inclusive Existence (France)
Physically Independent Existence (God(s))
Physically Impossible Existence (Ghosts)
So what do these different kinds of claims tell us about the nature of existence?
The Nature of Existence
The above statements show that we regularly claim that things exist that have little to no connection to physical properties. Everything from a nation, human rights, and fictional characters are all said to ‘exist.’
We are influenced by all these forms of existence whether we believe in it or now due to the actions of others. This is exactly why we debate existence at each of these levels. Skeptics have long argued that even physical things such as a rock do not exist; while physicalists argue that unless something has physical existence, then it is meaningless to say that they exist.
Whatever your personal view, the nature of existence is complex and we have only just scratched the surface here in this article. So the next time you get into a discussion about the existence of God, unicorns, or Santa Clause, remember that it is important to define what it is you mean by existence before you get started.
For more in depth discussions about existence from different perspectives here are some resources:
Why the World Does Not Exist by Markus Gabriel
Reference and Existence: The John Locke Lectures by Saul Kripke
Towards Non-Being: the Logic and Metaphysics of Intentionality by Graham Priest
What Is Existence? by C. J. F. Williams
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