Arguments Based On Observations - teleological + cosmological Flashcards
The cosmological argument
The Cosmological + teleological Argument.
Cosmological: a-posteriori argument based on observation
(motion, cause and effect, and the contingency in the universe)
- includes Aquinas 3 Ways
Teleological: Arguements based on design + purpose thus god
deductive argument
Using premises/scenarios to back up your assumption
(E.G. All dogs have four legs, John’s pet is a dog, therefore John’s pet has four legs)
inductive argument
Using instances to come to a generalised conclusion
St Thomas Aquinas beliefs
He believed that the existence of God could be proven in five ways
- summa Theologica (his greatest book)
Aquinas’ first 3 ways
- The unmoved mover
- Uncaused cause
- contingency and necessity
the unmoved mover - motion (Aquinas)
- Everything is in motion
- There can’t be an infinite regress of motion
- There has to have been a first mover – a start to the motion we observe.
(E.g. if you see dominoes falling, there must have been a first one that was pushed – there couldn’t have just been dominoes falling forever)
- So, there must have been a first mover that was unmoved – that is God.
uncaused cause
attempts to explain cause and effect.
- everything has a cause (its contingent)
- nothing can cause itself
- however, there can’t be an infinite number of causes as there will be no first cause.
- therefore there must be an uncaused cause
- and we call that - GOD
Contingency & Necessity
- not every being can be contingent
- Therefore there must be a being whose existence is necessary – God.
Leibniz- The Principle of Sufficient Reason
- Everything must have a reason / cause.
- Even if the world eternal, we need an explanation for it
If you reject PSR, it means that you are claiming things without an explanation
The Grand Designer - Aquinas 5th Way
He drew upon Aristotle view that nature is teleological & each thing has its own purpose.
In order for something to reach its purpose it need to be guided by an intelligent being - God
Example of Aqunias 5th way
Unintelligent things can’t fulfil a purpose unless it is guided by something with knowledge.
E.G. An unintelligent Bow & Arrow without its archer would be wood and string
William Paley - 2 points of view for why god must exist
In the world we can see both:
Design qua purpose - the universe designed to fulfil a purpose
Design qua regularity - the universe behaves according to some order.
Strengths of the cosmological argument
- They are logical and common sense (based on what we see)
- Fits in with Christian teaching - Genesis “In the beginning God created the Heaven and Earth”.
- Leibnez argued that all things should have a ‘sufficient reason’ for their existence.
- Things in nature are contingent therefore there must be something necessary.
William Paley - (1743) Natural Theology
watchmaker Analogy
design qua purpose
- argued that the complexity of the world suggests there is a purpose to it - there must be a designer(God)
If he came across a watch on the ground, he would assume that the complex parts on the watch has a purpose and that it did not come into existence by chance - There must be a watchmaker.
‘Design must have a designer, to whom we call God’
he then widens his argument to the details of the eye. The complexity of the eye alone is further evidence for a designing intelligence.
Epicurean hypothesis
The theory that the world is the chance arrangements of atoms
