Arguments based on Observation Flashcards
Teleological (1-23) + Cosmological (24-
Which Arguments are Arguments based on Observation + what makes it Observation?… (3 things)
- Teleological + Cosmological
- A posteriori arguments
- Empiricist
(based on experience / observation)
The Teleological Arguments are also known as? + why
The Design arguments
- teleological argument is based on the ‘telos’ (end) results of the universe e.g. how it is designed and created as proof of existence of God
Give some examples of the ‘design’ of the Universe?
- Golden spiral
- Food webs
- Opposable thumbs
What did Socrates say supporting about order in the Universe?
- 400 BC
“Signs of forethought in the design of living creatures” means cant doubt they are designed - Order of the universe proves things are designed + have planned order
Give a quote from Cicero supporting the design arguments / teleological arguments
” When we look up to the sky and contemplate the heavens, clear there is some divinity or superior intelligence?”
- Looking at the stars / constellations
- More vague than Paley, doesn’t immediately say God or a Christian god is the answer
Name the 3 main theologians used in Teleological Argument (in order + try dates)
- Cicero (1st Century) (not main guy)
- Aquinas (13th Century Catholic theologian)
- William Paley (18th Century)
What are Aquinas Five ways to prove God’s existence?
Aquinas 13th Century Catholic Theologian
- Unmoved Mover
- First Cause
- Contingency
- Degree (not on syllabus)
- Teleological
Justify / reason Aquinas Teleological Argument (5 steps)
- Objects follow Natural Laws (have a purpose)
- The reason objects perform their jobs efficiently is because they were designed that way
- Everything that is designed must have a designer
- Therefore, everything in the natural world, that does not thing for itself, heads towards its goal / purpose because it was directed by something which does (e.g. example of arrow + archer)
- The ‘being’ is god. god makes things reach their ‘target’
Give a quote from Aquinas to support the Teleological Argument
“Everything operates as a design. This design is from God.”
Please explain the example of the Archer and the Arrow.
- An arrow hits a target even though it does not have a mind of its own
- The archer (with a mind of their own) shot the arrow, making it hit the target
- Things in the natural world follow natural laws e.g. everything has a purpose
- If the natural world is the arrow, God is the archer, making everything achieve their purpose
What does ‘Design qua Purpose’ mean? + developed by who
William Paley (18th Century)
- The world shows organisation and design
- Everything is designed for a reason / purpose otherwise it would not be designed in the first place
- Anything that is designed must have a designer
What is Natural Theology?
Theology based on the Natural World - mostly observation
Please explain William Paley’s Watch Analogy + Relation to Observation Arguments
- Paley used the example of someone coming across a watch in a heath
- The person would see the watch, + complex design, workmanship, how cogs intertwined and work together to reach its purpose –> would conclude someone made the watch, as opposed to it just being there by chance.
- That designer is a watchmaker
- Doesn’t matter if watch sometimes goes wrong, the watches existence suggests it was designed for a purpose
- Just as the watch shows evidence of a designer / watchmaker
–> Complex designs in the natural world show evidence of a designer e.g. the human eye or wings of a bird - This designer is God
What does ‘Design qua regularity’ mean + explain
- William Paley 18th Century
Design shows regularity and consistency - e.g. Routine of planets in the solar system, how they all obey the same universal laws or Newtons laws on motion
- Could not have been by change
–> an external agent (God) must have imposed order on the universe
Please list the 3 main scholars who critique the teleological arguments (and 1 who doesn’t)
- Richard Dawkins
- Charles Darwin
- David Hume
Supports Arguments - Fredrick Tennant
What theory did Richard Dawkins critique? + What was his critique? + quote
Critiquing William Paley’s watchmaker theory
- Book called ‘Blind Watchmaker’
- “No purposes, nothing but blind pitiless indifference”
- States everything is there purely by chance –> No superior intelligence or God
What was Charles Darwin’s critique of the design argument?
Darwin’s natural selection goes against design arguments.
- Natural selection = healthiest species survive + pass genes on, variations which promote survival become a feature of the species, the rest die out.
–> success of species + ‘design’ is due to chance mutations over thousands of years
- fossil evidence to back up point.
David Hume has two main arguments against the teleological arguments. What are they?
- 5 questions
- Argument using the Epicurean Hypothesis
What are David Hume’s 5 questions against Arguments based on Observation?
18th Century empiricist David Hume.
1. Why is God the designer?
2. Why just one God?
3. Cannot guess that the universe has a designer just because things in the universe show design?
(Fallacy of composition)
4. There is so much evil in the world, why would the classical theistic God design such a world?
- Paley - Just because there is evil doesn’t mean there is not a designer, just because a watch is broken doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a designer.
5. The world is not like a machine, the universe is an organic thing.
- If the analogy if the watch is not accepted the rest of the argument does not work.
Explain Humes second argument using the Epicurean Hypothesis
- Epicurean hypothesis is that in the beginning of time there were particles moving in a random motion, and they evolved into an ordered system.
- Hume suggested this is a possible explanation for the design of the universe
- For Hume the design could happen at random, does not need a designer
Why are Humes arguments not a critique of Paley’s work
Hume published his work before Paley published his Teleological argument
What is the ‘Aesthetic Argument’ + how does it relate to Teleological arguments? + who created it
- FR Tennant
- 20th Century
- Humans possess the ability to appreciate beauty e.g. art, music and literature.
- This is not necessary for survival (evolution)
- Therefore is evidence of a Divine Creator (not natural selection)
What is Richard Dawkins response to the Aesthetic argument? + quote
Critique of F.R. Tennant
- Dawkins states that beauty doesn’t depend on there being a God
- in his book, ‘The God delusion,’ Dawkins states when people find Beethovens music or Shakespeare sonnets ‘beautiful’
–> “They do not prove the existence of God; they prove the existence of Beethoven and of Shakespeare
Name the Main Theologians of the Cosmological Argument + dates?
- Aquinas (13th Century Catholic Theologian)
Critiques - David Hume (18th Century)