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)
What is the Cosmological Argument based on? + What question did it seek to ask?
- Natural theology - Theology based on the Natural world
- Basis that universe cannot account for own existence –> must be another reason
‘Cosmo’ meaning
All that exists - Universe
Who was Aquinas + dates?
St. Thomas Aquinas - 13th Century Catholic Theologian
What are Aquinas’s 5 ways to prove God’s existence
- Argument of the Unmoved Mover
- Argument of the First Cause
- Argument from contingency
- Argument from Degree
- Teleological Argument
Are Aquinas Arguments for God a priori or a posteriori
- All a posteriori (based on observation)
Explain Aquinas’ Argument of the Unmoved Mover
1st Argument - Cosmological
- We can observe everything in the world is in a process of motion / change
- Everything in Motion has to be put in motion by something else
–> Pre-Newton - objects in rest until acted upon by external force
- Chain of movers cannot go onto infinity, as would be not first mover to cause move
- Necessary to have First mover, this is God
Explain Aquinas’ Argument of the First Cause
2nd Argument - Cosmological
- States every ‘effect’ has a ‘cause’
- Infinite regression not possible + things cannot cause themselves –> must be a First Cause
- First ‘efficient cause’ is God
–> Inspired by Aristotle
Explain Aquinas’s Argument from Contingency?
3rd Argument - Cosmological
- Contingent = dependent on something else for existence
–> everything in Physical world is contingent; dependent on something to bring them into existence + outside factors for continuation of existence
- Cannot be infinite regression of necessary things
- Has to be necessary being not caused, not dependent on anything else
–> God
What is Copleston’s Cosmological Arguments for God.
Based on Aquinas 3rd Argument - Contingency
- Famous for Debate with Bertrand Russel
- Everything in Universe is contingent
- Universe is aggregate of all things in it
–> Universe is contingent - Contingent things require explanation
–> Universe requires explanation - Infinite regression of explanations not possible
–> Necessary entity needed to explain universe
–> (Fallacy of Composition)
What is Leibniz’s Cosmological Argument for God?
17th Cent. - a priori argument based on Aquinas Contingency arg
Based on the ‘Principle of Sufficient reason’
- Everything that exists must have a reason for existing
- An infinite chain of contingent beings is not possible –> This reason must be found outside the physical (contingent) world
- The reason must be necessary, this reason is God.
Bertrand Russell’s critique of Contingency Argument?
- 20th Century
Experience only shows that Contingent beings exists
–> Doesn’t believe in Necessary Beings - Undermines Aquinas 3rd Argument based on Contingency
When was David Hume writing
18th Century Scottish Sceptic Philosopher - Challenged all beliefs
What is David Humes Criticism of Paley’s watch analogy
18th Century Scottish Sceptic
Believes the comparison between the world and the watch is weak
- Can conclude watch is designed because is not natural
–> Cannot draw same conclusions of world
What is Hume’s Argument against World Order coming from God (2 Scholars in one)
18th Century Scottish Sceptic
- Believed order is necessary part of world’s existence
–> order doesn’t mean someone had to design it (could have been chance)
Similar ideology to Darwinism (post-Hume)
- Creatures suited to fit purpose through evolution + survival of fittest
What is Humes Argument Against assuming Cause from Effect?
18th Century Scottish Sceptic
- Design arguments assume looking at effects (world) we can infer cause (God)
- Only assuming this relationship due to human understanding
“Our experience Generates a habit of expectation” “mistakenly project it into the world around us”
- We have a finite + imperfect world, no need to assume there must be an infinite, perfect God behind it
Explain Hume’s no other world’s argument?
18th Century Scottish Sceptic
- Argued the Universe is unique, no experience of any other way
–> cannot draw any conclusions
Explain Humes Fallacy of Composition + Russell
18th Century Scottish Sceptic
Argument Against Aquinas 1st+2nd way (Unmoved mover + Uncaused Causer)
Hume
- Can not logically move from idea everything in universe has a reason –> universe as a whole has a reason
Russell
- Just because human being has a mother, doesn’t mean human species has a mother
–> Cannot move from individual cause of individual things to totality have Cause
List 2 Scholars who would criticise the teleological argument + why?
Sartre existentialism
–> no universal purpose / telos
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