1B Ontological Argument Flashcards
what does design qua regularity mean
Ordering regularity in the universe
evidence of a design at work
what is aquinas’ fifth way ‘taken from’
‘the governance of the world’
summarise aquinas’ fifth way
Something that likes intelligence cannot move towards fulfilling a useful end, unless something with intelligence has moved it
Things that follow the laws and fulfil their telos; but cannot think for themselves must have been ‘directed by something else’ and for aquinas this must be God
what analogy did Aquinas use for his fifth way
bow and arrow
an arrow cannot reach its target by itself, it must be ‘firected by the archer’
he related this to the workings of the universe and everything follows natural laws even if it possesses no intelligence
where does one of the most ancient teleological arguments come from
cicero’s ‘De Natura Deorum’
45 BC
give a bible passage that supports the teleological argument
Psalm 19
‘The vault of heaven reveals his handiwork’
what does ‘design qua purpose mean
the parts of the universe appears to fit together for a purpose
when was design qua purpose developed
17th centry 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
it was no longer necessary to believe that God caused the movements
who was william paley
an english christian minister, the archdeacon of carlisle and a philospoher
he advocated for natural theology
what was william paleys book
natural theology (1802)
what is the first part of paleys argyment about
design qua purpose
outline the first part of paley’s argument
if one were to discover a stone on a health, one may conclude that ‘ot had laid there for ever’
if one were to discover a watch on the ground, one 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 conclusino even if:
- we were unaware of purpose
- we didnt understand some of its parts
- if it went wrong
the universe is too complex to exist naturally so it connotes to a designer
give a quote from paley to summarise the first part of his argument
“every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature”
nature is “greater and exeeds all computation”
what four examples of detailed workings does paley give to support the first part of his argument
eye
birds wings
fish’s gills
lacteal system
what is the second part of paley’s argument focused on
design qua regularity
outline paley’s second argument
the rotation of the planets and how they hold their orbits is due to gravity
this perfect force of nature could not be by chance and an external agent must have imposed this regularity and order
who was arthur brown
a 20th century philosopher
what does arthur brown support
design qua purpose
how does arthur brown support design qua purpose
our planet is the only planet in our galaxy with an ozone layer
the purpose of the ozone layer is to filter out uvtraviolet rays to protect and preserve life
this could not have happened by chance
who was F.R. Tennant
a british theologian and philosopher
he advocated theistic evolution in his work and a harmony between science and religion
what was tennants book called
philosophical theology
what were tennants arguments called
the anthropic and aesthetic arguments
what is significant about tennants arguments
he was one of the first to put foreward a design argument that included the acceptance of evolution
he believed that creatures do not randomly evolve, they make progress
life forms become more intelligent and increase in moral awareness
according to tennant what three types of natural evidence suggests a designer
the world can be analysed in a rational way
the inorganic world provides necessities to sustain life
evolution has led to intelligent human life
what is tennants anthropic principle
natural laws are fine-tuned (cosmically/ cosmic fine tuning) to allow human life to exist
if gravity or atmospheric gases were even slightly different, human life could not exist
tennant argues against the claim that the universe is a change of coincidences
since the universe and everything in it is regular and ordered rather than random and chotic, it is reasonable to suggest it is the result of intelligence
explain scientifically how unlikely our existence is
the mass density of the universe is finely balance to permit lifebang to a degree of one part in 10 (to the power of 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 insuffiency of helium would result in a shortage of the heavy elements - again, resulting in no life
what is the strong anthropic principle
the universe must have the properties that make existence of intelligent life inevitable
the conditions are intrinsic to the big bang
what is the weak anthropic principle
it is impossible to observe a universe that does not permit the existence of observers
what is the participatory anthropic principle
an observer is needed to cause the collapse of the wave function
what is tennants aesthetic principle
we have an appriciation for beauty, but it is not needed for survival and does not perform a utilitarian function
no other species appreciate beauty
there is no evolutionary advantage for humanity in being able to create poetry or appreciate a sunset
the process of natural selection and survival of the fittest would have no need of it because it is superfluous
it is evidence for a loving God because he has put it here for our enjoyment
According to Tennant, God wanted His creation to enjoy living in the world
give a quote from tennant to explain how he views beauty
‘biologically superfluous accompaniment of the cosmic process’
