The design argument

Question 1

What is the design argument known as?

Answer 1

The teleological argument

Question 2

What knowledge is it based off of?

Answer 2

a posteriori knowledge and inductive

Question 3

Who are the founders of the design argument?

Answer 3

William Paley

Question 4

What are the premises of the design argument?

Answer 4

From observation, it is evident that there is design in the world
such intelligent design, requires an intelligent designer
the only designer capable of such intelligent design is God
God is the designer

Question 5

What is the analogy used?

Answer 5

Paley’s watch analogy: if one were to stumble upon a watch in a desert, after inspecting it one would believe that it did not appear but instead that there is a watchmaker capable of creating something intelligently designed and fit for its purpose

Question 6

What are the types of design qua..

Answer 6

Design qua regularity and Design qua purpose

Question 7

what is design qua purpose

Answer 7

Design qua purpose - watch has a purpose, as things have a purpose - there must have been a designer to give them such

Question 8

What is design qua regularity?

Answer 8

From observation, one cannot deny that there is order in the world (Newton’s three laws, gravity, the o-zone layer)

Question 9

What is the aesthetic principle?

Answer 9

The idea that there is much beauty in the world which serves little to no purpose other than human enjoyment - F.R Tennant

Question 10

What is the anthropic principle? (who created it)

Answer 10

There are two versions of the anthropic principle:

strong: the world was designed to facilitate human life
weak: the world was designed to faciliate life

Question 11

What are Regularities of co-presence?

Answer 11

Regularities of copresence is the concept that there is order in the universe (spatial order) (the cogs of a watcha nd springs are in place)

Question 12

What are regularities of succession?

Answer 12

Regularities of succession (temporal order) refers to orderely processes that operate the same way every time (the laws of physics make the watch work)

Question 13

What are strengths of the design argument?

Answer 13

• Fulfills the human desire for explanation (use of analogy)
• One is able to observe evidence themselves and cannot deny it’s existence
• aims for probability not proof

Question 14

What are weaknesses of the design argument?

Answer 14

• Brute fact: Russell
• Fallacy of composition: Russell
• Arguments from analogy are weak, they must have a similarity
• Natural selection: all beauty serves an evolutionary purpose for animals mating/habitats etc
• No proof that it is the God of Classical theism
• Could be a result of the big bang
• Use of analogy anthropomorphises God

Question 15

What is a quote by Paley?

Answer 15

‘When we come to inspect the watch, we perceive that its several parts are framed and put together for a purpose… the inference we think is inevitable, that the watch must have had a maker’ – William Paley

Question 16

What is a quote supporting the design: ‘With such signs…

Answer 16

‘With such signs of forethought, the design of living creatures, can you doubt they are a work of design’ – Socrates

Question 17

A quote criticising the design argument “The world was..

Answer 17

‘this world was the first essay of an infant deity who afterwards abandoned it’ – David Hume

Question 18

A quote supporting the aesthetic principle: ‘Beauty seems..

Answer 18

‘beauty seems to be superfluous and have little survival value’ – Frederick Tennant

Question 19

A biblical quote supporting the design argument: ‘the heavens dec..

Answer 19

‘the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands’ – Psalm 19:1

Question 20

An evolutionary quote refuting the design argument: ‘The old argument..

Answer 20

‘The old argument from design in nature, as given by Paley fails now that the law of natural selection has been discovered’ – Darwin

Question 21

A quote supporting Design qua regularity and Regularities of Succession: ‘A wall which prevents..

Answer 21

‘A wall which prevents death to every living thing, just the right thickness and exactly the correct defence gives every evidence of a plan’ – Brown on the Ozone layer

Question 22

STRUCTURE FOR 30 MARKER:

Answer 22

P1: DESIGN ARG = A POSTERIORI, INDUCTIVE, WILLIAM PALEY.. WHILST SOME MAY VIEW THE D. ARG TO BE COMPELLING AS IT DRAWS UPON COMMON EXPERIENCE, THE ARGUMENT ULT FAILS AS IT - DOESNT SUGGEST G OF C THEISM AND IS ULTIMATELY EXPLAINED BY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE.

P2: WHILST SOME MAY E TO SUGGEST THAT THE D. ARG = COMPELLING THROUGH THE USE OF PALEY’S W ANALOGY IN DESIGN QUA PURPOSE (BRIEFLY EXPLAIN IT) AS STATED BY PALEY - ‘When we come to inspect the watch, we perceive that its several parts are framed and put together for a purpose… the inference we think is inevitable, that the watch must have had a maker’ – William Paley’
CA: ULTIMATELY QUALIFIED BY