1.1 teleological argument Flashcards
What is the teleological argument?
an argument for the existence of God based on the observation of the apparent order, design and purpose in the world
What kind of argument is the design argument?
an a posteriori argument - it is true/false with the need for observation and it uses inductive reasoning - it is not necessarily logical but only probable
What was Aquinas’ teleological argument?
P1 - there are things that don’t have conscious purpose
P2 - they can’t be directing themselves, they must be being directed by a being with knowledge and intelligence
C - it is probable that there must be a being with knowledge and that being is God
What were Hume’s criticisms of Aquinas’ argument?
+ the argument does highlight the apparent design in the world
- BUT it doesn’t prove the existence of God and if there is a God, it doesn’t have to be the classical theist God
- there are no grounds for assumption - Aquinas just assumed that there definitely was a God
What was Paley’s teleological argument?
P1 - everything around us seems so complex
P2 - the complexity of human artefacts comes from having been designed by an intelligent designer (humans)
P3 - surely the whole world has also been designed
C - the complexity of the world comes from having been designed by an intelligent designer, God
What kind of argument does Paley use?
an argument from analogy:
- a complex watch needs a watchmaker
- the universe is also complex so must need a designer
- the complexity of nature > complexity of any human machine
- therefore nature needs a grand designer = God
What were Hume’s criticisms of Paley’s argument?
Weak analogy - God is beyond human understanding so discussing the universe in human terms is a bad analogy
From effect to cause - cause is proportional to effect, a limited and imperfect world would have a limited and imperfect designer so the argument doesn’t prove the existence of the classical theist God
What were Mill’s criticisms of the design argument?
The design points to a flawed designer
- the existence of evil suggests a flawed, maybe even evil, designer
- therefore can’t be the omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of Christianity
What was Tennant’s Anthropic Principle Argument?
The world appeals to our sense of wonder - aesthetic principle: beauty has no need for survival yet it still exists therefore it must’ve been designed for human’s pleasure
The purpose of the universe is to support human life, the universe has the correct conditions to generate and sustain life
What was Swinburne’s argument?
the providential nature of the universe points to a designer - it provides not just what we need but also functions in such a way that were develop.
cosmic fine-tuning - the Earth is too finely tuned to not be designed
the probability of God’s existence > God’s non-existence
What was Hume’s criticism of the alternative approaches to the design argument?
if the world didn’t appear to be well designed, it wouldn’t be here for us to look at
