Teleological Argument Flashcards
What does teleological mean?
Explaining things based on their purpose
Which of Aquinas Five Ways is his version of the teleological argument?
Fifth way, argument from design
Aquinas argued from design qua regularity. He saw the overall order in the world as proof of a designer: ‘this being we call God.’
Aquinas stated that everything works together to achieve order, despite the fact that inanimate objects have no mind powers to achieve this. (Archer and arrow)
What example did aquinas use for his design argument?
Archer and arrow,
for an arrow to reach its destination it must be directed first of all by the archer.
In the same way, things seem to act in a regular fashion to reach a specific purpose. As they, like the arrow, are not able to direct themselves, there must be a God doing the directing.
What analogy did William Paley use?
Watchmaker
Comparing a watch to an eye
What are the main 4 claims that suggests the universe has a designer?
ORDER - regularities in the behaviour of objects and laws in the universe.
• BENEFIT - the universe provides all that is necessary for life and is more. E.g beauty
• PURPOSE - objects within the universe appear to be working towards an end or purpose. Indeed, the universe as a whole may be working towards an ultimate purpose.
• SUITABILITY TO FLOURISH- the order exhibited by the universe provides the ideal environment for human life to exist and to flourish
What do ‘design qua purpose’ and ‘design qua regularity’ mean?
Design from purpose and design from regularity
Explain Tennants anthropic principle
term used to refer to the belief that the universe is structured perfectly to ensure that human life developed.
Explain tennats aesthetic argument
human beings can appreciate things that aren’t vital for survival - beauty, music, art, literature
There must be an all loving designer who did this
How does evolution challenge the teleological argument?
Challenges the idea that God is the designer of the universe and that the beauty, order and complexity of the universe is evidence of this
idea that living things adapt to their environment opposes the idea that god created the perfect environment for humans
The Bible says humans were created on the sixth day of
Creation
, not over a period of millions of years.
What is natural selection?
Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the genes that aided their success.
How does the problem of evil challenge the argument?
An omnibenevolent god wouldn’t design a world with evil
Why does the problem of evil challenge the teleological argument.
An all loving god wouldn’t design a world with evil
