1B: Teleological Argument

Question 1

Is the Teleological Argument a priori or a posteriori?

Answer 1

a posteriori

Question 2

Is the Teleological Argument inductive or deductive?

Answer 2

inductive

Question 3

What is the Teleological Argument?

Answer 3

the universe has order and purpose, that complexity shows evidence of a design, which means it must have a designer - God

Question 4

What does ‘telos’ mean?

Answer 4

purpose

Question 5

What is the basic structure of the Teleological argument?

Answer 5

1. we see things ordered in a complex way and work well to achieve a purpose, so we can infer they have been designed by an intelligent designer
2. order and complexity don’t arrive by chance
3. we can see the aforementioned characteristics when looking at the natural world, they resemble human creations
   4.the natural world must have been invented by an intelligent designer - God

Question 6

What does ‘design qua regularity’ mean and who supports the idea?

Answer 6

the regularity of the universe is proof of a designer - supported by Aquinas

Question 7

What does ‘design qua purpose’ mean and who supports the idea?

Answer 7

parts of the universe fit together for a purpose - supported by Paley

Question 8

Aquinas’ fifth way is a version of the design argument - what is it?

Answer 8

nature seems to have an order and purpose to it - nothing inanimate is purposeful without the aid of a ‘guiding hand’

Question 9

What is an example of Aquinas’ fifth way - the ‘guiding hand’?

Answer 9

an arrow and the archer - an arrow has no awareness of its goals, it is only though the ‘guiding hand’ of the archer that it reaches its goal

Question 10

What does the analogy of the arrow and the archer suggest?

Answer 10

everything in nature which is moving but has no intelligence must be directed to its goal by god. inanimate objects must be ordered by intelligent being

Question 11

“whatever lacks ____________ cannot move towards an ___ unless it be directed by some ________ endowed with ____________ and intelligence”

Answer 11

knowledge, end, being, knowledge

Question 12

What is the name of William Paley’s book?

Answer 12

Natural Theology

Question 13

What analogy did Paley use?

Answer 13

analogy of a watch on the heath - if you found a stone on the ground and were told it had been there forever it would make sense, however if the same thing was said about a watch on the ground it would be ridiculous. a watch is too complex and serves a purpose too well to just happen accidentally, it must have been designed by someone intelligent

Question 14

How does Paley compare a watch to the world?

Answer 14

both are so intricate that we can only infer there must be an intelligent designer behind them.

Question 15

Why did Paley believe God’s care and attention for us could not be diminished?

Answer 15

because God puts care into even the smallest of insects, so we do not have to worry about being forgotten by him

Question 16

What example does Paley use to demonstrate how god puts craft and skill in every structure?

Answer 16

earwigs

Question 17

What did FR Tennant believe about evolution?

Answer 17

it had a purpose - creatures do not randomly evolve, they make progress.

Question 18

What did Tennant believe about life forms and what it suggested?

Answer 18

they are developing in intelligence, which suggests a purpose

Question 19

How did Tennant believe evolution was created?

Answer 19

by an intelligent God

Question 20

What did Tennant believe about evidence supporting evolution?

Answer 20

believed it was also evidence supporting god
- if something is moving towards some kind of goal, there must be a ‘guiding hand’ behind it

Question 21

What are Tennant’s 3 types of natural evidence suggesting a designer god?

Answer 21

1. an intelligent being can detect the workings of an intelligent mind
2. the inorganic world has provided basic necessities required to sustain life (eg trees producing oxygen)
3. evolution seen as god’s way of creating intelligent human life

Question 22

What is the Anthropic principle?

Answer 22

natural laws of the universe have been fine tuned to allow human life to exist. the universe is structured in a way that suggests it was inevitable for human life to develop - if laws of nature (eg gravity) were even slightly different, human life would not have happened

Question 23

What is the Aesthetic principle?

Answer 23

nothing in the theory of evolution can explain why humans feel an appreciation of art, music, literature etc. since these characteristics do not aid us in survival, natural selection cannot account for their existence. this capacity for joy was put into us by god, our designer.

Question 24

How did Swinburne contribute to the Anthropic principle?

Answer 24

fine tuning argument - the earth is too finely tuned to be like this on their own. the complexity makes it difficult to believe there is not a designer at work

Question 25

What is brute fact?

Answer 25

a fact that has no explanation

Question 26

What did Swinburne say was brute fact?

Answer 26

phenomena