DA Flashcards
Define a ‘Design/teleological Argument’.
An argument for God as the mind/designer/intelligence which explains the order we find in reality/the universe.
Define ‘Teleological’.
Teleological means that it has been designed for a purpose.
Define ‘Spatial Order’.
Regularities in copresence/Patterns of order within space at one instant of time.
Define ‘Temporal Order’.
Regularities of succession/Patterns of things over time.
Summarise ‘The design argument from analogy (as presented by Hume)’.
The design argument from analogy (as presented by Hume) is a teleological argument in the Metaphysics of God that proposes that, due to natural objects having spatial order like human objects that have been designed, they are likely to be designed by God - proving he exists.
State ‘The design argument from analogy (as presented by Hume)’ in standard form.
P1: Human artifacts have spatial order.
P2: Nature itself also has spatial order.
P3 Human artefacts have spatial order because they have been deliberately designed by an intelligent being.
P4: Similar effects/properties typically have the same causes/explanations.
C1: Therefore, nature/natural entities (probably) has spatial order because they have been deliberately designed by an intelligent being.
P5: Natural entities are much more complicated than human artefacts.
P6: This greater complexity probably requires greater intelligence.
C2: Therefore this intelligent being/designer which exists probably has much greater intelligence than a human.
C3: Therefore, God exists.
State what type of argument ‘The design argument from analogy (as presented by Hume)’ is.
1) Analogical - Justified by showing how one thing can be understood by something else
2) Non-Deductive -The conclusion follows the premises with high certainty, not logical necessity
3) A Posteriori - Justified through experience
Summarise ‘Humes objections to the design argument from analogy’.
Humes objections to the design argument from analogy argues against his own design argument within the Metaphysics of God by highlighting differences between Nature and human artefacts in order to prove they are not similar, and therefore is not likely to have the same cause.
State the Differences between Human Artefacts and Nature.
Human Artefacts:
- Not living
- Not Self-replicating and Self-sustaining
- Clear Purpose
Nature:
- Living
- Self-sustaining and Self-replicating
- No clear purpose (as a whole)
Summarise ‘Paley’s deductive design argument: from spatial order’.
The Paley’s deductive design argument: from spatial order is a teleological argument in the Metaphysics of God that proposes that, due to natural objects having spatial order like human objects that have been designed, they are likely to be designed by God - proving he exists.
State ‘Paley’s deductive design argument: from spatial order’ in standard form.
P1: Nature has spatial order.
P2: Nature can only have spatial order if they were deliberately designed by an intelligent being.
C1: Therefore, an intelligent being/designer exists who created the entire universe.
P3: Nature/natural entities are of great complexity.
P4: This greater complexity/variety requires great intelligence.
C2: Therefore, this intelligent being/designer must be very intelligent.
P5: This intelligent being/designer cannot be part of nature since nature as a whole has design properties that need explaining.
C3: Therefore, this greatly intelligent being/designer must exist outside of the natural world.
C4: Therefore, God exists.
State what type of argument ‘Paley’s deductive design argument: from spatial order’ is.
1) Non-Analogical - Is NOT justified by showing how one thing can be understood by something else
2) Non-Deductive -The conclusion follows the premises with logical necessity
3) A Posteriori - Justified through experience
Summarise ‘Swinburne’s design argument: from temporal order’.
The Swinburne’s design argument: from temporal order is a teleological argument in the Metaphysics of God that proposes that, due to the universe having temporal order that can’t be explained by science, it is most likely designed by God - proving he exists.
State ‘Swinburne’s design argument: from temporal order’ in standard form.
P1: The universe as a whole contains temporal order.
P2: There are two possible hypotheses to explain this: temporal order has a scientific explanation or temporal order has a personal explanation.
P3: The second is a better explanation as it is supported through analogy, which doesn’t break down for temporal order, while the first one is supported by science, which breaks down as it’s attempting to explain why itself exists.
P4: Because the whole physical world contains temporal order, the free intelligent being in question would have to have designed the whole world, and so must be immensely powerful and intelligent, free and disembodied.
C: Therefore, God exists.
State what type of argument ‘Swinburne’s design argument: from temporal order’ is.
1) Analogical - Justified by showing how one thing can be understood by something else
2) Abductive - The hypothesis bet explain the things that we know
3) Non-Deductive -The conclusion follows the premises with high certainty, not logical necessity
4) A Posteriori - Justified through experience
