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Philosophy > The Teleological Arguement > Flashcards

The Teleological Arguement Flashcards

1
Q

What did David Hume call a priori?

A

Relations of ideas

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2
Q

What did David Hume call a posteriori?

A

Maths as a fact

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3
Q

What was William Paley’s position in the church?

A

Archdeacon of Carlisle

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4
Q

What does the Greek word telos mean

A

Purpose

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5
Q

What two examples of functional complexity in the natural world does Paley highlight?

A

The human eye and the interdependence of ecosystems

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6
Q

What had not been discovered yet which may have informed Paley’s way of thinking?

A

Evolution - Paley believed the earth to be 6,000 years old

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7
Q

What did Richard Dawkins call evolution?

A

The blind watchmaker

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8
Q

Which of Aquinas’s five ways is a teleological arguement?

A

The fifth

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9
Q

What percentage of the earth is actually inhabitable for humans?

A

13%

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10
Q

What percentage of the earth’s surface you s conducive to crop growth

A

5%

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11
Q

What did Socrates say about the potential for design?

A

’ with such signs of forethought in the design of living creatures, can you doubt that you are the work of design?’

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12
Q

What quote summarises Dawkins opposition to the design arguement?

A

‘the temptation to attribute actual design to the appearance of design is a false one’

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13
Q

What term was a used to describe Paley’s teleological arguement

A

Qua purpose

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14
Q

What is Aquinas’s teleological arguement commonly called

A

Qua regularity

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15
Q

What criteria does play say something has to meet to possess functional complexity?

A

Specific materials, several parts, a purpose, regular motion and indispensable parts

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16
Q

Define a posteriori

A

Philosophical term for an arguement where the conclusion in reached based off evidence that has been observed. The arguement is only as convincing as the evidence

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17
Q

Define a priori

A

The philosophical term for an arguement that starts from a set of premises and deduces conclusions from these premises. If the principles are correct and the chain of reasoning is sound, the conclusion is absolute and can’t be challenged

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18
Q

What is a teleological arguement?

A

An arguement for god’s existence that work by looking at things in the universe and trying to show they’ve been designed for some reason or purpose.

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19
Q

What are the three ways a priori arguements can be challenged?

A
  • challenging the validity of the starting principles
  • the coherence of the arguement and whether the steps are logical
  • the appropriateness of the assumptions the arguement makes
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20
Q

What is an assumption?

A

A belief or statement unsupported by evidence or arguement

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21
Q

Define inference

A

The philosophical term for a conclusion that is reached through a process of reasoning in an arguement

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22
Q

Summarise Aquinas’s teleological arguement

A

P1: when you look at the natural world you see everything in it follows natural laws, even if they aren’t conscious, thinking beings
P2: if things follow natural laws they tend to do well and have some goal or purpose
P3: however, if a thing cannot think for itself it does not have any goal or purpose unless it is guided by something that thinks
C: everything in the natural world that doesn’t think for itself heads towards its goal because it’s directed by something that does think. That something we call God

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23
Q

What are natural laws?

A

The physical laws of science, like gravity. It must not confused with natural (moral) law

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24
Q

What is regularity of succession?

A

The idea that things in nature follow, predictable, unvarying laws that lead to a certain result

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25
Q

Explain Aquinas’s archer analogy?

A
  • an arrow hits a target despite not having a mind of its own
  • the archer shot the arrow
  • things in the natural world follow natural laws even if they don’t have a mind of their own
  • someone with a mind of their own caused the universe to behave in this way. This intelligent thing is God
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26
Q

What is a cause?

A

Something that brings about a result

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27
Q

What is a an effect?

A

The result of an action

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28
Q

Describe the weaknesses in Aquinas’s arguement

A
  • Aquinas assumes that things in the natural world are pursuing a purpose
  • some people would say the natural is the way it is and that is not a good enough cause to postulate a designer
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29
Q

Explain Humes rejection of analogy to prove a teleological arguement

A

Says that analogy is limited in strength to the points of similarity between the things being compared. Hume says that there are no things within a universe to which a universe can be satisfactorily compared.

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30
Q

What is natural selection?

A

A phrase coined by Charles Darwin to explain his idea that individuals with useful variation will be preserved in the struggle for life and will produce offspring with similar characteristics, making the trait more common over time

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31
Q

Explain Humes arguement that there could be other reasons for the appearance of design than God

A
  • Hume argues it is possible that matter may contain the spring of order originally within itself
  • any effects we observe in nature could ge caused by a wide variety of causes
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32
Q

What is Ockham’s razor?

A

A philosophical principle named after fourteenth century philosopher and friar William Ockham. The principle is ‘do not multiply entities beyond necessity’. States that when explaining anything in philosophy you should do so in the most straightforward way possible, because usually the simplest explanation is the best one

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33
Q

Explain Humes idea that random activity leads to orderliness rather than disorder

A

If matter was arranged at random, by pure chance, if the force that started the universe is to continue in motion, the tendency will be to move from disorder to order, so we could get an ordered world to live in our of the chaos of the past. Basically the idea that order tends to perpetuate itself once established. This is commonly referred to as the Epicurean hypothesis

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34
Q

What was mill’s objection to the design arguement?

A

Considered the state of nature to be reason to object to the notion of design, because the amount of goodness in nature is far outweighed by the amount of suffering

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35
Q

How would Paley and Aquinas counter mills objection?

A

They would argue that their sole concern was whether the universe indicated design, not whether this design was good or bad

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36
Q

What problem does natural selection pose for the teleological arguement?

A

Provides a way to explain how Paley’s examples of regularity and order can exist without a designer - supporting Humes claims

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37
Q

What quote by Alfred lord Tennyson summarises mills view that the world is too cruel too have been intelligently designed?

A

‘nature is red in tooth and claw’

38
Q

Describe Richard Dawkins objections to the design arguement

A
  • evolution acts as a blind watchmaker with no vision or foresight
  • we look for purpose because of our psychological predisposition to find meaning
  • filling in the gaps with religion is a copout and we should continue to pursue scientific research l
39
Q

Briefly explain what the design arguement is

A

Uses the apparent design in the natural world as evidence for the existence of God. The arguement suggests that the order, regularity and intricacy within the design of the natural world indicate it was created by someone with a particular purpose in mind, rather than being the result of chance. It is considered this someone must have been a great power - god.

40
Q

Define deism

A

The idea that God created the world but no longer intervenes or is concerned with it

41
Q

Define natural theology

A

Making the case for god’s existence based on reason

42
Q

Define analogy

A

An analogy draws similarities between two different objects in order to make inferences about other possible similarities which we cannot be certain about based purely on the evidence available

43
Q

Explain inductive reasoning

A

A form of proof or conclusion based on previous experience. Reasoning based on premises that don’t necessarily prove the conclusion. One can accept the premises as true without having to accept the conclusion

44
Q

Recount Aquinas’s fifth way

A

Things that lack intelligence act for an end. This is evident from their acting nearly always in the same way so as to obtain the best result. Hence it is plain that not fortuitously but designedly do they reach their end.
Whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless directed by some being endowed with intelligence, as the arrow is shot to its mark by the archer. Therefore an intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end, and this being we call God

45
Q

State and describe Humes six critiques of the design arguement

A

1) similar effects do not mean these effects had similar causes.
2) there are huge differences between natural and man made objects. This makes for a very weak analogy based purely on guessing about similar causes.
3) design of the world does not necessarily point to a designer. The most likely factor is some unknown cause rather than a great universal mind
4) the design arguement is based in parts of the world, and this is then falsely extended to explain the whole world. It is impossible to know about the whole just from its parts. This is a case of the fallacy of composition
5) even if we accept there was a designer, we can’t make any assumptions about what this design would be like apart from what is clearly shown in the world. Because the world is imperfect as it contains evil and suffering, it would be wrong to conclude it’s designer is perfect
6) the design arguement commits anthropomorphism, which is making something human-like when it is t human. It makes god like a human since he is considered to be like the designer of a watch

46
Q

Summarise Paley’s design arguement

A

We can conclude that things in the world that display functional complexity must have had a designer. We can clearly see that parts of the natural world display functional complexity. Therefore these things must also if needed a designer, and this designer is what we call God

47
Q

Describe Paley’s five responses to Hume

A
  • he said it does not matter whether we can make any conclusions about god’s attributes, so long as the arguement proves that he is the designer of the world
  • his avoidance in using so much of a blatant analogy helped him a oid the charge of anthropomorphism
  • even if there might be disorder in some parts of the universe, the parts that do display functional complexity still need explaining
  • a designer is the best way of explaining the functional complexity in the universe
48
Q

Who was the main proponent of the aesthetic and anthropic arguements

A

F.R Tennant

49
Q

Explain the aesthetic arguement

A

The huge amount of beauty in the world is not necessary for life , so is biologically superfluous. It serves no biological function, suggesting it is just there to be beautiful. Tennant thinks this can’t be explained by science. It’s better explained by a designer taking pride in his work.

50
Q

What is mills issue with the aesthetic arguement?

A

The existence of evil and suffering have brought about great ugliness and despair

51
Q

Describe the anthropic principle

A

The idea that everything in the universe seems compatible with the existence of human beings, or atleast sentient beings. If even one or two factors in the u inverse were designed differently, then the existence of human beings would be incompatible with the environment

52
Q

List the drawbacks of the anthropic principle

A
  • it leads to circular reasoning as we would not be in the position to make this point if we were not precisely in the position we are in
  • perhaps it is human life that adapted to the universe rather than the other way around
  • just 13% of the earth is inhabitable and just 5% is available for crop growth, contradicting the idea that everything is tailor made for humans
53
Q

Who put forward the arguement from probability?

A

Richard Swinburne

54
Q

Explain the arguement from probability

A

Given the extent of orders nd purpose in the world, it is more probable that God exists than he does not. This is known as a cumulative arguement, because the evidence accumulates, making it more likely that something is true

55
Q

What seven features of the universe does Swinburne see as cumulative evidence?

A
  • the very existence of the universe
  • the order in the universe
  • the existence of consciousness
  • human opportunities to do good
  • the pattern of history
  • miracles
  • religious experience
56
Q

Describe mills objection to the teleological arguement

A

The existence of evil and suffering show the world has been badly designed. There also seems to be no divine justice in the world. Instead, the world is full of injustices which the world doe abit naturally seem to rectify

57
Q

What is Kant’s objection to the teleological arguement?

A

It is logically incorrect to us to make a leap from our wonder at the purposefulness and order in the world to making a metaphysical claim about the cause of it. Such a claim would require a different kind of proof

58
Q

How did Darwin challenge the design arguement?

A

His theories provided a comprehensive alternative explanation for why the world appears to be designed, without any reference to a God. There is no inherent purpose in the world, just a series of chance genetic mutations and competition that has forced animals to change

59
Q

How was Dawkins a challenge to the design arguement?

A

argues evolution shows that design is the impressive outcome of natural, biological goal seeking behaviour. Says we only look for purpose in the world because of psychological predisposition to want to find meaning and purpose in the world, not because it actually exists. We should not fall back on religion and theology to account for parts of the world we can’t explain, as this is a cop out and we should continue research and the pursuit of scientific evidence

60
Q

Describe the Christian responses to Darwin and Dawkins?

A
  • The design arguement could be consistent with a non literal interpretation of the Bible.
  • natural selection and evolution can’t fully explain the entire of the world. This could either be because if superfluous beauty or immensely complex design, that, in their eyes, necessitate design
  • the anthropic principle can be used to challenge the idea of evolution, as evolution would not have occured if just one or two factors were slightly out of place
  • Swinburne argues that ‘the very success of science in showing us how deeply orderly the natural world is, provides strong grounds for believing there is an even deeper cause of that order
61
Q

Give a general overview of what the teleological arguement does?

A

This argument looks at the apparent existence of design in the universe as evidence for the existence of God. It suggests that the order, intricacy and complexity it displays suggests that it was created by someone with a particular purpose in mind. The argument then makes the inductive leap that this ‘someone’ is God

62
Q

Why is it called the teleological arguement?

A

This focus on purpose has led many to call it the teleological argument, since the Greek word for purpose is telos

63
Q

What type of reasoning will teleological arguements use?

A

Analogical reasoning

64
Q

What does analogical reasoning do?

A

Analogical reasoning draw similarities between different objects in order to make inferences about other possible similarities we could not know about based on the evidence alone

65
Q

Describe how the teleological arguement makes use of analogical reasoning

A

The design argument posits that since things in the world that display functional complexity were created by a designer with a purpose in mind, because the universe displays functional complexity, it too must have been created by a designer with a specific purpose in mind

66
Q

Do teleological arguements use inductive or deductive reasoning?

A

Inductive

67
Q

What does this mean for the arguement?

A

This means that is based on a posteriori evidence and that the premises do not necessarily prove the conclusion, just that the conclusion is likely – this means that you can accept the premises are true without believing the conclusion to be true. This means that the argument is only as strong as the evidence and the conclusion it makes can change immediately in the face of new contradictory evidence

68
Q

Why is the teleological arguement a posteriori?

A

The design argument is a posterior since you must have empirical experience (from the senses) of the world in order to perceive the apparent design within it.

69
Q

Describe Aquinas’ TA

A

He says that everything in the world, including things that can’t think, are working towards some sort of purpose – Aquinas thinks this is proven by them acting in the same way and following regularity of succession. Because these objects cannot think, they must be guided towards this telos by something that can think, just as the arrow is directed by the archer. Aquinas believes that things acting for some kind of end cannot be self-explanatory, as something that lacks intelligence cannot act with intelligence – therefore this goal seeking behaviour must be explained by something else controlling it. Therefore, some intelligent being exists by whom all natural beings are directed towards their end – and this being is God. Even though some people will point towards laws of nature to explain regularity of succession, the fact that these laws exist or that things follow them cannot be explained by science, so Aquinas points towards God

70
Q

Explain Hume’s objection that similar effects do not mean similar causes

A

Argued that similar effects do not mean similar causes. Just because an arrow and a plant work towards an end despite being inanimate – this does not mean they both had to be directed by something that thinks. Just because two chairs look similar does not mean they were made by the same carpenter

71
Q

Why does Hume think that Aquinas made a weak analogy?

A

Says that it was a weak analogy because he was comparing manmade objects, like arrows, to natural objects

72
Q

Explain Hume’s objection that it would be more parsomonious to assume that there was no designer

A

Says that it would be simpler to assume that the universe (and by extension the things within the universe) were self-causing rather than created by a designer. This links to Ockham’s Razor, Hume’s rejection of necessary existence and the Epicurean Hypothesis.

73
Q

How would Paley respond to this?

A

Paley argues that Hume is wrong and that the simplest expalantion for the existence of functional compexity in the universe is God

74
Q

Explain Hume’s objection on the basis of the fallacy of composition

A

Says that it commits the fallacy of composition because it looks at parts of the world that display order and then assumes that the universe as a whole displays order. Hume’s assertion that there is nothing within a universe to which a universe can be satisfactorily compared exposes the flaws of this reasoning

75
Q

Explain Hume’s objection from evil and suffering

A

Says that the existence of the world does not point towards a designer in the sense of the GoCT – because of the pain and suffering that exist in the world

76
Q

How would Aquinas counter this objection?

A

Aquinas would counter by saying that the argument only looks to prove the existence of a creator, not what this creator is like, so this does not actually damage the TA. Paley explicitly says this

77
Q

Why is this a weak counter to Hume’s objection?

A

However, because Aquinas and Paley were using the argument to prove the existence of the GoCT rather than some deistic God, it seems that the point still stands

78
Q

Explain Hume’s objection from anthropomorphism

A

It commits anthropomorphism (giving God human qualities) by comparing God to an archer. This is no way to talk about the transcendent GoCT. Paley claims to avoid this but still implicitly compares God to a watchmaker, so can still be said to have fallen victim to this charge, if not as obviously as Aquinas, as technically Paley was just comparing the world/universe to a watch, but the other comparison is implied

79
Q

Who was Paley trying to respond to with his TA?

A

Hume

80
Q

What was Paley trying to avoid doing with his arguement and why did he still mistake this mistake anyway?

A

He was aware of the flaws of analogical reasoning and tried to develop a version that didn’t compare natural and man made objects. It seems that he failed because he quite literally does do this and his argument is called ‘the analogy of the watch’

81
Q

Explain how Paley’s TA works

A

He says that we can see things like watches that have functional complexity and conclude that they can’t have come about by accident. He then extends that to things in the natural world, like the human eye, and infers that they too, because they also display functional complexity, must have a designer. He then makes the inductive leap that this designer must be the GoCT

82
Q

Explain Tennant’s aestethic arguement

A

He says that we can see things like watches that have functional complexity and conclude that they can’t have come about by accident. He then extends that to things in the natural world, like the human eye, and infers that they too, because they also display functional complexity, must have a designer. He then makes the inductive leap that this designer must be the GoCT

83
Q

How does Richard Swinburne’s cumulative case arguement for the existence of God work?

A

Created a cumulative argument for the existence of God. It is the idea that as we see more and more things in the universe display order and complexity, the evidence for the existence of God seems more likely

84
Q

What does he recognise that the various phenomena that imply the existence of God might be but why does this not impact his beliefs?

A

He accepted that these may just be brute facts but thought that the existence of God was a more parsimonious explanation for the existence of God

85
Q

Counter this idea?

A

It seems as though it might be more parsimonious to except these things as brute facts until evidence to the contrary arises, as then we would not need to take any inductive leaps or postulate the existence of any entities, thereby following the principle of Ockham’s Razor

86
Q

What do Hume and Mill both point towards to discredit this arguement?

A

Hume and Mill both point towards the existence of evil as proof that the GoCT cannot exist – Mackie expanded on this idea with the inconsistent triad. The design argument therefore finds weakness in the fact that it looks at an imperfect creation as evidence for the existence of a perfect God, as to many, the only God that could possibly be proven through such an argument is a deistic one

87
Q

Why does Kant reject this arguement in terms of where it originated?

A

Kant rejects the design argument for its roots in the ontological and cosmological arguments, both of which he thought to be flawed.

88
Q

How does Darwin’s theory of evolution challenge both Paley and Aquinas’ TAs?

A

Darwin’s theory of evolution via natural selection provides a challenge to the design argument as it explains how complex things can form without the need for a creator God (Paley) or an inherent purpose, as it based on chance genetic mutations (Aquinas)

89
Q

How does Swinburne respond to the challenge from evolution and why is this response flawed?

A

Swinburne sees evolution as another example for why God must exists. The more science shows us how deeply ordered the natural world is, the stronger the grounds for believing that there must be a cause of that order, again this seems to be adding an unnecessary layer of complexity

90
Q

How does the Epicurean Hypothesis counter the TA?

A

Raised by Hume. It posits that before the universe there was a timeless state. This means in effect there was an infinite amount of time. Given that there was an infinite amount of time, inevitably a universe with the factors to support life was created out of all the events that would have happened during this infinite time span

91
Q
A

Philosophy (21 decks)

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