Arguments From Observation For Existence Of God Flashcards
Aquila’s fifth way step by step ( teleological)
- world consists of non thinking beings that lack intelligence
- everything obeys natural laws so act predictably
- these beings have purpose like bees collecting honey
- beings are directed to this purpose by an intelligent being
- intelligent being is god
Aquinas teleological example
An arrow achieves its purpose of hitting the target after being directed by the archer.
Criticisms of aquinas
- purpose may be a human construct as natural things may not have an innate purpose
- logical fallacy as he assumes intelligent designer has characteristics of and is the classical theistic god which is a leap in logic
- Sartre - Aquinas assumes things in the natural world have a purpose
Paleys watch analogy
The watch is carefully designed by the watchmaker to perform its purpose of telling the time, compared to naturally mechanical things like birds wings purpose is to fly, lacteals system of producing right amount of milk for amount of babies.
Design qua purpose
Parley reached his conclusion after watch analogy that the purpose of natural things must be designed by a conscious mind which is god
Design qua regularity
Infers a designer due to consistent order and patterns in the world like gravity and rotation of the planets.
What if the watch is broken
It is still clear the intended purpose of a watch even if it is nor working, broken wing
What if the purpose of all parts of the watch is not clear
Even if purpose of all parts isn’t clear the watch as a whole has a clear purpose indicating design
Criticism of paley
- Natural disasters indicate poor design or no design
- what is the purpose of a wasp
- law of entropy suggests a tendency towards disorder in the world, ice cube melting.
Humes Teleological Criticism - problems with analogies
Aquinas analogy of blood circulatory system compared to sap in plants is a mistaken conclusion as these are very different, universe isn’t mechanic so can’t be a watch it is more like a growing cabbage.
Humes Teleological Criticism - problems with observation
Fallacy of composition as paley sees purpose in parts of the world he assumes universe as a whole has a purpose, balance scales
Humes Teleological Criticism - first rude attempt of an infant deity
Imperfections in the world due to it being an infant deities first attempt at making a perfect world so things went wrong then the world is cast aside.
Humes Teleological Criticism - epicurean hypothesis
Alternate explanation for universe and infinite time with finite particles would fall into order by chance creating universe.
Criticism of Hume in teleological
- paley doesn’t argue that there’s a purpose behind the whole world
- couldn’t throw pieces of the watch in the air and expect them to land in the shape of the watch, less probable to argue for chance
- Hume makes fun of the argument takes it too far as many agree designer but don’t argue religion or charcteristics
Darwin theory of natural selection
Creatures most suited to an environment will survive and pass on favourable characteristics. Survival of the fittest as adaptations occur and most useful characteristics will reproduce but less favourable one’s will not and so die out. Argues purpose of natural world is due to natural selection and evolution not an intelligent design. It is a random process no overall purpose.