design argument Flashcards
who’s argument is the design argument?
William Paley
what is a posteriori?
How does this link to Paley’s argument?
- based on sense experience, we observe the world through our 5 senses
- we see evidence of order and purpose in the world
what is an inductive argument how does this link the Paley’s argument?
- the premises supply strong evidence for the truth of the conclusion
- there’s evidence in the world which leads it likely God exists
what is Paley’s argument based on?
the worlds:
- complexity
- regularity
- its purpose
what is Paley’s inductive design argument?
- some objects clearly show evidence of being designed as they hold complexity and regularity
- the universe holds complexity and regularity
- so its likely the universe was designed
what does Paley use as an example?
- watch maker analogy
what is the watch maker analogy?
- a watch has complex parts
- the watch must’ve been designed
- the universe also has parts that function for a purpose
- therefore the universe must have a maker
- the universe is much greater than a watch so the creator must be all powerful
- the designer is God`
what’s Paley’s example of the eye?
- the eye is adapted for vision
- it has all the right parts in the right arrangement to allow this
what’s another name for Paley’s argument?
the teleological argument
what does Paley mean by design que purpose?
- everything was designed for a purpose
how does Paley’s argument allow us to support faith with reasoning?
- God can be seen through observation of nature
- we don’t need revelation to have a belief in God, we can see through nature
what is a criticism linking Gods design to a machine?
- it suggests the universe is a sort of machine
- a machine would clearly indicate a maker
- natural things don’t have a maker in the same way a machine does
how would Paley respond to the criticism linking the universe to a machine?
- he would use natural examples to indicate design
what’s a criticism which suggest infinite possibilities?
- the world seems to have order and stability
- the particles undergo every possible combination
- at least one combination would produce a universe like ours
- there’s infinite amounts of possibilities
what would Paley respond to the criticism of their being infinite amounts of possibilities?
- the world has such complexity, there must be a designer
- it couldn’t happen by chance
what is the inconsistent triad?
- god is omnipotent
- god is omnibenevolent
- evil exists
what is Hume’s criticism of anthropomorphism?
- to compare God to a human designer (watchmaker analogy), only serves to humanise God?
- to know the universe has been designed, we’d need knowledge of how they’re made
- we have no experience
how would Paley respond to the criticism of anthropomorphism?
- we have to compare it to human design as we’d have no idea and can’t understand omnipotent design
what is design qua regularity?
- regularity and order can be observed in the physical world
what are weaknesses of Paley’s design argument?
- the omnipotent Christian God is a greater cause than is needed
- the existence of evil
- theory of evolution, nature designs itself
what are strengths of Paley’s design argument?
- the designer is the all powerful Christian God is the simplest explanation
- evil may be unavoidable to bring about good (free will defence)
- evolution is compatible with God
- it is a simple inductive argument
