Challanges to inductive arguments

Question 1

What are the inductive arguments?

Answer 1

Cosmological argument and Teleological argument

Question 1

Who challenged the inductive arguments?

Answer 1

Hume

Question 2

What was Hume’s criticism of the cosmological argument?

Answer 2

He thought the quest for a first cause was illogical and argued that the notions of eternity and infinity renders the quest irrelevant

Question 3

What did Hume reject about the part and the whole?

Answer 3

He rejected the notion that a principle that was relevant to the ‘part’ (i.e. a cause) could be applied to the ‘whole’ (i.e. universe)

Question 4

What did Hume call the part and the whole application?

Answer 4

An arbitrary act of the mind

Question 5

Who developed Hume’s ‘arbitrary act of the mind’ idea?

Answer 5

Russell

Question 6

What did Russell refer to this development as?

Answer 6

The fallacy of composition

Question 7

What is the fallacy of composition?

Answer 7

When one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part

Question 8

How does the fallacy of composition relate to inductive arguments?

Answer 8

Since we can only reason with certainty what we have experienced, to ask about origins of a universe is meaningless as we have no experience of this

Question 9

What did Hume object about the teleological argument?

Answer 9

The watchmaker analogy

Question 10

Who had previously objected to the watchmaker analogy?

Answer 10

Descartes

Question 11

What are the problems with the watchmaker analogy?

Answer 11

Comparing a mechanical instrument (watch) to an organic one (the world around us) is inappropriate

Question 12

What would be a better analogy?

Answer 12

A vegetable

Question 13

Why is assuming there is a governing intelligence behind the universe a problem?

Answer 13

It is not sound inductive reasoning according to the evidence we have available

Question 14

What is the problem with the notions of design?

Answer 14

Any notions of ‘design’ that we do induce would not tell us how many ‘designers’ there were, nor whether or not it was the God of classical theism

Question 15

What is a problem with the idea of us having a perfect word?

Answer 15

Any ‘designer’ of our world would be open to criticisms of incompetence, creating an imperfect, almost apprentice-like world

Question 16

What is the problem of the problem of evil in this perfectly designed world?

Answer 16

Features of our world such as disease and natural disasters would also question the morality of such a designer

Question 17

What does the teleological argument fail to do according to Hume?

Answer 17

Distinguish between deliberate
and authentic design on the one hand and
the appearance of the design on the other as there are other explanations for this ‘apparent’ order

Question 18

What are the alternative scientific theories which challenge inductive arguments?

Answer 18

Big bang theory and Charles Darwin’s evolution theory

Question 19

How does the Big Bang theory challenge inductive arguments?

Answer 19

It suggests the universe originated from a random appearance of a singularity (a single point in space-time)

Question 20

How does Darwin’s evolution theory challenge inductive arguments?

Answer 20

It theorises appearance of order emerges from an underlying process that is both unpredictable and random

Question 21

‘How can any thing, that exists from eternity, have a cause…

Answer 21

…since that relation implies a priority in time, and a beginning of existence?’ (David Hume)

Question 22

‘Just because every human has a mother does not mean…

Answer 22

…the whole of humanity has a mother.’ (Russell)

Question 23

‘…in tracing an eternal succession of objects…

Answer 23

…it seems absurd to inquire for a general cause or first author.’ (David Hume)