1.1 Design Argument Flashcards
What is the teleological argument?
An argument for the existence of god based on the OBSERVATION of the apparent ORDER, DESIGN AND PURPOSE in the world
What kind of argument is the design argument?
An A POSTERIORI argument - it is true/false with the need for observation and it uses INDUCTIVE REASONING - it is not necessarily logical but only probable
What was aquinas’ teleological argument?
P1- there are things that don’t have CONSCIOUS PURPOSE
P2 - they can’t be directing themselves, they must be being directed by a being with KNOWLEDGE AND INTELLIGENCE
C - it is probable that there must be a being with knowledge and that being is god
What were Hume’s criticisms of Aquinas’ argument?
+ the argument does highlight the apparent design in the world
- BUT it doesn’t prove the existence of god and if there is a god, it doesn’t have to be the CLASSICAL THEIST god
* there are no grounds for assumption - aquinas just assumed that there definitively was a god
What was Paley’s teleological argument?
P1- everything around us seems so COMPLEX
P2 - the complexity of human artefacts comes from having been DESIGNED by an intelligent designer (humans)
P3 - surely the whole world has also been designed
C - the COMPLEXITY of the world comes from having been designed by an intelligent designer, God
What kind of argument does Paley use?
An argument from ANALOGY:
- a complex watch needs a watchmaker
- the universe is also complex so must need a designer
- the complexity of nature > complexity of any human machine
- therefore nature needs a GRAND DESIGNER = God
What were Hume’s criticisms of Paley’s argument?
WEAK ANALOGY - god is beyond human understanding so discussing the universe in human terms is a bad analogy
FROM EFFORT TO CAUSE - cause is proportional to effect, a limited and imperfect world would have a limited and imperfect designer so the argument doesn’t prove the existence of the classical theist God
What were Mill’s criticisms of the design argument?
The design points to a FLAWED DESIGNER
- the existence of evil suggests a flawed, maybe even evil, designer
- therefore can’t be the omnibenevolent and omnipotent god of Christianity
What was tennants anthropic principle argument?
The world appeals to our SENSE OF WONDER - aesthetic principle : beauty has no need for survival yet it still exists therefore it must’ve been designed for HUMANS PLEASURE
The purpose of the universe is to support human life,
What was Swinburnes argument?
The PROVIDENTIAL NATURE of the universe points to a designer - it provides not just what we need but also functions in such a way that were developed.
COSMIC FINE-TUNING - the earth is too finely tuned to not be designed, the probability of gods existence > gods non-existence
What was humes criticism of the alternative approaches to the design argument?
If the world didn’t appear to be well designed, it wouldn’t be here for us to look at
What is paleys argument for purpose?
A stone is on a heath and has always been there. If there was a watch, is it not assumed that it had always been there. With more observations, it is then realised that the watch had been put together to fulfil a purpose. Since the watch has evidence of design, it has a designer.
With the analogy between the watch and the natural world, everything seems to be designed to fulfil some function. Therefore, the universe has a designer - god.
What is paleys argument from regularity?
A watch works by having regular mechanical movements. Regularity is the universe leads us to infer the existence of a designer of that regularity
Aristotles 4 causes
- MATERIAL CAUSE : what its made of
- FORMAL CAUSE : how its arranged
- EFFICIENT CAUSE : what/who made it
- FINAL CAUSE : its purpose
Summary of Aquinas’ fifth way proving the existence of god
1) all things act towards an end purpose
2) but only things that are designed act towards an end of purpose
3) therefore all things are designed
4) but anything that’s designed has a designer
5) therefore a designer of all things that exists, is god
What does Hume think about the design argument and what are his criticisms?
- our experience of the universe is limited. We have no experience of the universe being designed or built, so we cannot infer the cause
- analogies do not always work well. There are not enough strong similarities between the watch and the universe to infer from.
- we cannot know anything about the cause from te effect
Explain humes criticism on the epicurean thesis linking with Swinburne and regularity
Atoms arrange themselves randomly and there is a small chance for it to become ordered. It would happen, but it would take a very long time for it to take place
What is Ockham’s razor?
The principle that the simplest explanation is the most likely
What is natural selection?
The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and produce offspring. Sometimes known as “the survival of the fittest”, and is the mechanism for evolution
“What makes natural selection occur?” (Whilst accepting Darwinism)
It could be that the universe was so organised and designed so that life would evolve by natural selection
What is the regularities of co-presence? (By Swinburne)
Based on how evolution has led to the complex world and that it requires particular natural laws in order for it to take place (organisms have to exhibit spatial order, relating to space)
How does Swinburne compare machines and humans with his theory?
Nature acts as a human-making machine producing them. In turn, humans learn from nature and produce machines that make machines. This presents that there is a creator of nature, god.
What does Swinburne argue in the regularities of succession overall?
It is the probability that god exists is greater than the probability he doesn’t. The sheer size and complexity of the world suggests this
What is the anthropic principle?
The argument that the reason and purpose of the universe is to support human life
What did F R Tennant write (1930)
The probability of the events (of the universe forming) happening by chance is very low, there must have been something to guide it
BEST EXPLANATION: the universe is fine-tuned for human life
What is the difference between theism and deism?
- THEISM : god interacts personally with the universe and humans (IMMANENT)
- DEISM : god fine-tuned the universal constants to the right values and left the machinery of the universe to work without inferences of any kind (TRANSCENDENT)
What are the arguments against the anthropic principle and best explanation?
- assumes that human beings are so special, the hole of creation was leading up to the event of their arrival
- was it necessary to have billions of years of experimentation on a huge scale in order to create the human race?
What does the theory of evolution explain?
The development of a complex life without the need for an omnipotent designer. Organisms are adapting all the time to a changing environment. These organisms that adapt best pass their characteristics to their offspring’s in the process of natural selection
How are paley and Darwin’s views different?
Paley believed that birds were designed with wings so they can fly. Darwin believed that birds had evolved in response to the demands of a particular environment. Birds were also much simpler organisms to their environment.
