Teleological Argument

Question 1

Aquinas Fifth Way

Answer 1

Governance of the world

Question 2

Aquinas’ Fifth Way (4)

Answer 2

1. We see that things which lack intelligence act for an end so as to obtain the best result
2. Whatever lacks intelligence can’t move towards an end unless it’s directed by something with knowledge
3. There must be a knowledgeable being
4. This is God

Question 3

Is Aquinas’ Fifth Way A priori or A posteriori?

Answer 3

A Posteriori

Question 4

What does Aquinas argue in his Fifth Way? (X and Y)

Answer 4

1. If X is the efficient cause of Y, the Y is the final cause of X.
2. Hence, efficient causes are directed towards specific events beyond themselves.

Question 5

What example does Aquinas use in his Fifth Way?

Answer 5

We observe that nature exhibits regularities e.g. lightning is directed towards forest fires.

Question 6

Induction Problem

Answer 6

Just because something has happened a million times before, it doesn’t mean it will happen again. The laws of nature isn’t a good enough explanation.

Question 7

How do causes ‘know’ to always have a ‘goal’ in mind?

Answer 7

Aquinas argues that there must be a designer that keeps things regular - this is God.

Question 8

Who was Hume?

Answer 8

A Scottish enlightenment philosopher

Question 9

Hume’s Criticism One

Answer 9

It’s fine to say that the Universe was designed but no evidence to it being God.

Even if their is a designer, it might not be a classical theistic God. To say that this being is God is to go beyond the evidence presented by design.

Question 10

Hume’s Criticism Two

Answer 10

The Universe is so unique that to give it a human quality of design is wrong.

To say that the Universe is unique is to say that there’s only one Universe. Even if there is only one Universe, it might not be unique in its properties.

Question 11

Hume’s Criticism Three

Answer 11

What came before the designer?

If the material world rests upon a similar ideal world, this ideal world must rest upon some other and so on. Infinite regress makes this impossible.

Question 12

Hume’s Criticism Four

Answer 12

Anthropomorphism - Hume argues that the designer shouldn’t have human characteristics.

It’s a human quality to design things which leads us to believe that God’s human but we’re told He isn’t so this leads to confusion.

Question 13

Hume’s Criticism Five

Answer 13

Multiple Gods - Humans usually work together to design so why doesn’t God do the same?

There may be more than one designer that contributes to the making of the Earth.

Question 14

Hume’s Criticism Six

Answer 14

The Universe can easily be regarded as a living organism such as a plant.

There’s no evidence for a plant (complex) to have a designer so why would the Universe (also complex) have a designer.

Question 15

Hume’s Criticism Seven

Answer 15

The order of the Universe could easily be a result of chance.

Question 16

Hume’s Criticism Eight

Answer 16

If God is so perfect why does the Universe have so many faults?

Question 17

Natural Selection

Answer 17

The theory of natural selection says that individuals of a species are more likely to survive in their environment and pass on their genes to the next generation when they inherit traits from their parents that are best suited for that specific environment.

Question 18

Who influenced Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection?

Answer 18

Paley’s book, ‘Natural Theology’

Question 19

Survival of the Fittest

Answer 19

The natural process by which organisms best adjusted to their environment are most successful in surviving and reproducing.

Question 20

Darwin’s Scientific Criticisms

Answer 20

1. The vast majority of variations are useless or harmful rather than beneficial
2. If a species is fates to evolve then a dozen variations must die before the final species is reached
3. This doesn’t fit in with an omnibenevolent God

Question 21

Darwin’s Philosophical Criticisms

Answer 21

1. If variation was divinely guided, natural selection wouldn’t be important
2. Each variation should be understood as random
3. Darwin argued that knowledge of evolution removes the need for direct divine design
4. Can’t science be the designer?

Question 22

Darwin’s Theological Criticisms

Answer 22

How could a ‘loving God’ have made creatures with complex but horrific life-cycles?

Question 23

Richard Dawkins Books

Answer 23

1. The Selfish Gene 1976
2. The Blind Watch-Maker 1986
3. The God Delusion 2006

Question 24

The Selfish Gene 1976

Answer 24

Explains the process of evolution in biology using genes as its basic unit, showing how they manifest in the form of organisms

Question 25

The Blind Watch Maker 1986

Answer 25

1. Attempts to establish a naturalistic explanation for the appearance of design in nature
2. It shows that the complex process of Darwin’s natural selection is unconscious and automatic
3. If natural selection is there, it’s blind and works without purpose

Question 26

The God Delusion 2006

Answer 26

1. A supernatural creator (God) almost certainly doesn’t exist
2. Belief in a personal God qualifies as a delusion - persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence