Philosophy: Arguments Based On Observation

Question 1

What does Teleological mean?

Answer 1

Looking to an end result (telos) in order to draw a conclusion about what is right or wrong

Question 2

What does Cosmological mean?

Answer 2

To do with the unverse

Question 3

What does Natural Theology mean?

Answer 3

Drawing conclusions about the nature and activity of God by using reason and observing the world

Question 4

What does Contingent mean?

Answer 4

Depending on other things

Question 5

What does Principle of Sufficient Reason mean?

Answer 5

The principle that everything must have a reason to explain it

Question 6

What does Sceptic mean?

Answer 6

Someone who will not accept what others say without questioning and challenging

Question 7

What does a Posterior argument mean?

Answer 7

Arguments which draw conclusions based on observations through expierence

Question 8

What does Necessary Existence mean?

Answer 8

Existence which does not depend on anything else

Question 9

What does A priori arguments mean?

Answer 9

Arguments which draw conclusions through the use of reason

Question 10

What does Logical Fallacy mean?

Answer 10

Reasoning that has a flaw in its structure

Question 11

Who was Aquinas?

Answer 11

A philosopher who put forward many ideas throughout philosophy, he is known as the father of philosophy

Question 12

Who was William Paley?

Answer 12

A philosopher who put forward ideas in Observations to give evidence of God.

Question 13

What was Aquinas’ design argument?

Answer 13

He created the five ways of which 3 can prove the existence of God. This is based of two things: The universe exists, and There must be a reason why.

Question 14

What are the five ways that prove the existence of God?

Answer 14

First way: existence of change, or motion, in the world. This continued change is only carried on by the existence of mover, This mover is God.

Second way: the concept of cause and effect. There must be a first cause, this cause of God

Third way; world consists of contingent things e.g. humans and animals. There must be a being that is not caused by anything, this being must be God

Question 15

What analogy does Aquinas give for his Design Argument?

Answer 15

A bow and arrow.

The arrow must be aimed to reach its destination by an archer, without the archer it could end up anywhere. In the same way we are not always able to direct themselves. thus God must be directing us.

Question 16

What was Paley’s design argument?

Answer 16

That the world and everything in it is so intrinsically designed and perfect that it could not have come about by chance. Therefore there must be forme higher being creating this perfect world- for Paley this higher being is God.

Question 17

What analogy does Paley give for his Design Argument?

Answer 17

A pocket watch on a heath.

A man is walking across a heath and comes across a stone and a watch, he then analyses both. From the stone he is able to conclude that it could have been there forever and there is no confusion as to why it is on the heath. However, when he analyses the watch he is able to conclude that it is complicated, intricate, and purposeful piece of machinery. Thus, there is no way it could have naturally appeared on the heath.

Therefore, he said in the same way there are intricacies existing in nature that could not have come about by chance- for this Paley suggested the eye and the solar system.

Question 18

How did Hume critique Aquinas and Paley?

Answer 18

He said: there analogy is limited in its strengths and points of similarity of things being compared to e.g. you can’t compare the solar system to a watch as they are to different.

He says it is also equally possible that ‘matter may contain the string of order originally within itself’. Therefore anything we observe may be caused by a number of different things e.g. DNA and Natural Selection.

Is there evidence for a single designer? E.g. analogy of a ship- a ship wasn’t perfect first try and it takes lots of people to make one. Therefore why do we presume there one God?

Question 19

What does Plato say about the cosmological argument?

Answer 19

Everything must be related by some cause

Question 20

What dose Aristotle say about the Cosmological argument?

Answer 20

behind the series of cause and effect there must be someone or something that came about without being cause- for Aristotle this is God

Question 21

What does Aquinas say about the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 21

Five ways to god existence.
Way 1: existence of change or motion in the world
Way 2: concept of cause and effect
Way 3: world consists of contingent beings

Question 22

What does Leibniz say about the cosmological argument?

Answer 22

Why is there something rather than nothing? Why does anything exist at all?

Principle of sufficient reason: if something exists there must be a reason why, if something happens there must be a reason why, if a statement is true there must be a reason why. thus, we need a reason for everything

Question 23

What is the Cosmological Argument?

Answer 23

It stems from natural theology, an looks into: why do things exist at all?, and why does the universe exist?