MoG - Teleological Arguments

Question 1

What are teleological arguments?

Answer 1

Arguments for God’s existence that claim there is complexity in the world that is evidence of design - design requires a designer (God) and the evidence of design that is often appealed to is organisation of parts for a purpose and temporal regularity

Question 2

Outline Hume’s argument from analogy

Answer 2

The fitting of means to ends in nature resembles the fitting of means to ends in human design (parts are organised for a purpose), the cause of human designs are minds (people make things work for purposes), and similar effects have similar causes, so by analogy cause of design in nature is also a mind, and this mind is god due to the grandeur of nature’s design

Question 3

Outline Paley’s design argument

Answer 3

Paley’s design argument compares man-made items, such as a watch, to aspects of nature, such as a rock. If you see a rock on the ground, you may assume it had always been there, but if you saw a watch on the ground, you would assume someone put it there and designed it (hallmark of design) - parts for purpose, hence god as designer like humans design watches