Design Argument Flashcards
What is the main point of the Design Argument?
Since the world appears deliberately designed for life to survive, there must be a creator/designer.
Name and describe the analogy that William Paley used to explain the Design Argument.
The Watchmaker Analogy - If you found a watch in a field, you would assume that it had a creator because of its intricate parts and its purpose of telling the time. If you found a leaf, it could also be induced that it had a creator because it also has intricate parts and a purpose (photosynthesis).
Which two arguments did Frederick Tennant develop to support the Design Argument?
The Anthropic Principle and the Aesthetic Argument.
Describe the points of the Anthropic Principle.
If the Big Bang was any less/more powerful, human life wouldn’t exist. This suggests that a creator had to make the conditions just right.
Describe the points of the Aesthetic Argument
Since humans can appreciate art, music, and beauty, and that these traits are not necessary for survival, they must be the product of design from God.
Describe some of David Hume’s criticisms of the Design Argument.
Calling God a ‘designer’ anthropomorphises him, It may not be the God of Classical Theism that created the world, and it’s entirely possible that the Universe came abuot by chance and humans haven’t experienced enough of the Universe to draw any conclusions.
What was Immanuel Kant’s criticism of the Design Argument?
Paley induced that because there is design in the world, that there is order. The Universe may be in chaos, but the human mind is set to perceive certain things as having order, so we project order onto what could be chaos. The perceiving of order could make us assume a creator exists to maintain that order.
