1B Inductive - Teleological

Question 1

What does ‘design qua regularity’ mean?

Answer 1

• Order and regularity in the universe = evi. of a designer at work

Question 2

What is the Fifth Way “taken from”?

Answer 2

• “the governance of the world”

Question 3

Summarise Aquinas’ Fifth Way.

Answer 3

• Something that lacks intelligence cannot move towards fulfilling a useful end, unless something with intelligence has moved it
• “things which lack knowledge, such as natural bodies, act for an end…to obtain the best result…they achieve their end, not fortuitously, but designedly”
• Things follow the laws ∴ fulfil their telos; but cannot think for themselves ∴ they have been “directed by something else” - must be God

Question 4

What analogy did Aquinas use for his Fifth Way?

Answer 4

• Arrow cannot reach target by itself, must be “directed by the archer”
• Relates this to the workings of the universe ∵ everything follows natural laws even if possess no intelligence

Question 5

Where does one of the most ancient teleological arguments come from?

Answer 5

• Cicero’s ‘De Natura Deorum’ (45 BC)

Question 6

Give a Bible passage that supports the teleological argument.

Answer 6

• Psalm 19: “the vault of heaven reveals his handiwork”

Question 7

What does ‘design qua purpose’ mean?

Answer 7

• The parts of the universe appear to fit together for a purpose

Question 8

When was ‘design qua purpose’ developed?

Answer 8

• 17th C. in response to the new mechanistic physics
• Newton discovered the universal laws of gravity and motion ∴ many scientists saw the universe as a ‘machine’ with all parts working together
∴ no longer necessary to believe that God caused the movements

Question 9

In what book did Paley respond to the mechanical analogy?

Answer 9

• ‘Natural Theology’ (1802)

Question 10

What is the first part of Paley’s argument?

Answer 10

• Design qua purpose
• If one were to discover a stone on a heath, may conclude that “it had lain there for ever”
• If one were to discover a watch on the ground, would conclude that, as it is so complex, it did not come into existence by chance
• An intelligent person would infer that it had a designer
• We would draw this conclusion even if: unaware of purpose; didn’t understand some of its parts; if it went wrong
• The universe = likewise complex ∴ too infers a designer

Question 11

Give a quote from Paley to summarise the first part of his argument.

Answer 11

• “every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature”
• Nature = “greater and…exceeds all computation”

Question 12

What four examples of detailed workings does Paley give to support the first part of his argument?

Answer 12

• Eye
• Bird’s wings
• Fish’s gills
• Lacteal system

Question 13

What is the second part of Paley’s argument?

Answer 13

• Design qua regularity
• Rotation of planets + how they hold their orbits due to gravity = could not be chance ∴ an external agent must have imposed regularity/order

Question 14

How does the 20th Century philosopher, Arthur Brown, support design qua purpose?

Answer 14

• Our planet = only one with ozone layer
• The purpose of the ozone layer = to filter out ultraviolet rays to protect life
• Could not have happened by chance

Question 15

What is significant about Tennant’s design argument?

Answer 15

• One of the first to put forward a design argument that included acceptance of evolution

• Creatures do not randomly evolve, they make progress
• Life forms become more intelligent and increase in moral awareness

Question 16

According to Tennant, which three types of natural evidence suggest a designer?

Answer 16

• That the world can be analysed in a rational way
• That the inorganic world provides necessities to sustain life
• That evolution has led to intelligent human life

Question 17

What is Tennant’s anthropic principle?

Answer 17

• Natural laws are fine-tuned (cosmic fine-tuning) to allow human life to exist
• If gravity or atmospheric gases were even slightly different, human life could not have existed
• Tennant argues against the claim that the universe is a change of coincidences

Question 18

Explain, scientifically, how unlikely our existence is.

Answer 18

• The mass density of the universe is finely balanced to permit life to a degree of one part in 10(to power 60).
• If the universe were slightly more massive, an overabundance of deuterium from the big bang would cause stars to burn too rapidly for the formation of complex life.
• If the universe were slightly less massive, an insufficiency of helium would result in a shortage of the heavy elements - again, resulting in no life.

Question 19

What is the strong anthropic principle?

Answer 19

• The universe must have the properties that make existence of intelligent life inevitable
• The conditions are intrinsic to the Big Bang

Question 20

What is the weak anthropic principle?

Answer 20

• It is impossible to observe a universe that does not permit the existence of observers

Question 21

What is the participatory anthropic principle?

Answer 21

• An observer is needed to cause the collapse of the wave function

Question 22

What is Tennant’s aesthetic principle?

Answer 22

• We have an appreciation for beauty, but it is not needed for survival - does not perform a utilitarian function
• No other species appreciate beauty
• God wanted His creation to enjoy living in the world

Question 23

Give a quote from Tennant to explain how he views beauty.

Answer 23

• “Biologically superfluous accompaniment of the cosmic process”