The transcendental argument for the existence of God usually has something like the following basic form: (1) God is a necessary precondition for logical absolutes; (2) logical absolutes exist, therefore God exists. Dostoyevsky’s “If God doesn’t exist, everything is permitted” is also a kind of transcendental argument; like all such arguments, it seeks to prove the existence of God by demonstrating the absurdity of the contrary.

According to the transcendental argument, God is a necessary precondition for universal categories, such as logic, morality, the uniformity of nature, etc. Why’s that a problem for atheism? Because atheism, like all worldviews, presupposes universal categories; consequently, it presupposes its own negation. Let’s take a look at some typical examples of atheist incoherence: [ . . . ]

The Abolition of Man is, above all, an argument in favour of the existence of objective values. In Lewis’ view, the universe is the kind of thing that demands certain responses from us whether we happen to respond correctly or not. For example, the universe says you should speak the truth, love your neighbour, honour your parents, etc., whether you happen to live up to these obligations or not. It says the Mona Lisa is a masterpiece whether you happen to have the faculties to appreciate it or not. One law obliges king and peasant alike. [ . . . ]

Classical mechanics is the study of how things move in relation to force. Unsurprisingly, it was the first branch of physics discovered, and it is the foundation of all the other branches. Its principles were codified by Newton in a book called the Principia; hence, classical mechanics is sometimes referred to as Newtonian mechanics. [ . . . ]

Most of us think freedom is worth striving for, but how many of us have inquired into what freedom really is? There are basically two schools of thought. The one sees freedom as license, which is to say, the ability to do whatever you want; the other sees freedom as something like duty.   [ . . . ]