The Design Argument Flashcards
Who is Aquinas and when was he writing?
A philosopher writing in the 13th century.
What was aquinas’ aims and when was he writing?
Aquinas was writing due to his belief that God designed and created the world. He was writing due to his expansion of Aristotle as Aristotle’s argument was threatened by the church and aquinas worked towards creating the argument that presented how both religion and reasoning can worked together harmoniously.
Why did aquinas believe that the world was designed? (By God)
Aquinas stated that there is too much beneficial order within the world for the creation of the universe to be by chance, he therefore believed that objects do not have the intelligence to work towards an end/purpose and there must be something directing them and this intelligence being God.
What was aquinas’ analogy?
ARCHER AND BOW-
Aquinas argued the analogy of the bow and archer. Aquinas argued that an arrow cannot fire itself; it is directed and shot by an archer he then mirrored this to the idea of the creation of the universe and believed that God is the archer for all inanimate objects in nature. Similarly the universe is unintelligent and yet ordered ect. This must be guided by an intelligent being, just like the archer. This intelligence we call God.
Who was William Paley and when was he writing?
A philosopher writing in the 18th century.
What did Paley argue?
Paley argued that the universe was of mechanistic and perpousful world, and that features are selected for their suitability, adaptability, fittingness for human purpose for example: the human eye, it provides us with eyelashes to protect us from getting dirt in your eyes affecting your vision, Paley believed that this evidence points towards a designer. His argument was based on the idea that any complexed mechanism must have been designed and in turn anything that has been designed must have a designer.
What was Paley’s analogy?
Paley went on to argue that there is nothing more of a complex mechanism than the world therefore, much as the complexity of a watch would force you to believe it has been designed, the complexity of the universe focuses people to believe it had been designed. Therefore the universe has been designed and the only possible designer of something so powerful and detailed as the universe must be God.
What is the aesthetic argument?
It was an argument produced by F.R.Tennant, it is concerned with the fact that the world presents too much beauty for it to have just happened by chance. Tennent believed that the universe possesses such natural beauty that it goes beyond that which is necessary to live. This shows that the universe is the work of God. Tennent observed 5 main things about the universe 2 of them being the world is intelligible and not chaotic and significance of the evolutionary system is that it underpins direction and progress.
Name another philosopher that agrees with R.F. Tennets aesthetic argument?
Gerard Manley Hopkins “the universe is destroyed by humans yet still rises up again to reveal gods glory.”
What is needed to be included with the design argument introduction?
What’s Is it? An argument that depends on drawing analogy between the world and and object of human design.
Teleological argument- ‘telos’ Greek for end/purpose.
A prostiriori argument- as it based on experience and completely rejects any ideas of chance.
Inductive argument- as if observes the regularity within the universe and the rules it abides by.
Issues as to why the universe as it is-
Order of the world regularity in behaviour & laws of the world.
Benefit- this is concerned with the question as to why it is that the universe is capable to provide everything for life.
What is the anthropic argument?
THE GOLDILOCKS EFFECT-
It is concerned with the idea that the universe is ‘just right’ for humans to live in. Tennent argue that the design argument allows for the possibility of evolution but evolution alone does not explain all of the order and perfection that is within the universe.
What did Tennent believe was too finely tuned?
The world as the laws are too finely tuned to make it possible for human life.
Who was John Polkinhorne and what did he say?
“if the universe had not taken its finally tuned form we would not be here”. The rational beauty of a finally tuned universe points to the rational kind of the creator.
