the design arguement Flashcards
who proposed the desing arguement and who was he ?
the design arguement was proposed by William Paley and he was a manthmation and theologian
what book did Paley wright his design arguement in
He wrote his design arguement in a book called natural theology
what type of arguement is the design arguement
the design arguement is posteriori - meaning it uses observation to attain a conculsion
the arguement is also inductive
describe the analogy used by William Paley i order to put forward his design arguement
While walking through a feild a man comes across two objects. One is a rock and one is a pocket watch. It would be sensible to asssume that the rock could have been there forever or for at least a very long time. However on the other hand when he observes the watch he can see its complexities. The pocket watch is built up of many cogs and different mechanics, if one part of the mechanisums was off even slightly (such as a cog being too much or small) then the watch would cease to function. Upon inspection he could also tell that the watch served a telos of telling the time. - as a result of these complexities it would be safe to assume that there was a watch makeer
the universe if infintly more complex than a watch and therefore would this not also infer that there was a universe maker - god
what other examples does Paley use to illustrate how complex the world is?
paley also uses the examples of :
- the eye - perfectly desinged and adapted for sight
-fish having fins and gills making them perfectly adapted for swimming - birds having wings and feathers to help them fly
what was one of humes critisiums of Paleys design arguement
David Hume didnt directly comment upon Paleys design arguement as Hume died before the creation of the design arguement. However based on what hume said on similar arguements we can infer his critisums
One critisums would have been that even if the universe was designed there is no evidence that this was the god of classical theisum. Hume claims ‘a wise man proportions his beleif to his evidence’
Hume was arguing that even if there was a creator we know nothing of this creator based upon emperical evidence- where ever we find inteligent beings on the earth we equally find physical bodys - so there is no probable reason to assume that this desinger would be intangable and meta-physical
hume argued that this designer could be mortal and could have died a long time ago
equally there is no porbabale reason to assume that this desinger was alone - could have been multiple designers
give another scientific critisum of the design arguement
another critisims of the design arguement could be the theory of evolution - Charles Darwin - natural selection and survival of the fittest - this explains why creators seem to have features that fit a perfect purpose
what scholar disagrees that evolution goes againt the theory of design and why
Richard Swinburn disagreed that evoltion goes against the concept of god designing the world and universe. As evolution is regulated by certain moral laws such as chemestry, biology and physics these laws do not explain themselves and so in swinburns view they came from God.
what is humes critisium relating to the problem of evil
hume made refernce to the greek scholar - Epicurus (inconsistant triad) asking the question as to why god would create a world with so much suffering and eveil ?
