1C: Challenges to Inductive Arguments

Question 1

What is the name of David Hume’s book?

Answer 1

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

Question 2

Hume was an empiricist, what does this mean?

Answer 2

we can only rely on our own sensory experience when formulating arguments. means that when talking about a metaphysical God you are going beyond your own experience so cannot make any logical conclusions

Question 3

When did Hume write his criticism about the Design Argument?

Answer 3

23 years before Paley’s watch analogy

Question 4

Who are the characters in Hume’s book and what beliefs do they represent?

Answer 4

Cleanthes (for DA)
Philo (against DA, skeptic, represents Hume’s beliefs)

Question 5

What is the fallacy of composition?

Answer 5

the error that if something is true for an individual, then it must also be true for the group. (example - just because every man has a mother, it doesn’t mean there is a mother of the human race)

Question 6

What part of the Cosmological Argument does fallacy of composition challenge?

Answer 6

the underlying assumption that there needs to be a cause for the universe

Question 7

What is the ‘necessary beings’ argument?

Answer 7

why posit a necessary being rather than a necessary universe? the term ‘necessary being’ makes no sense a posteriori - any being claimed to exist may or may not exist. “all existential propositions are synthetic”

Question 8

What part of the Cosmological Argument does necessary beings challenge?

Answer 8

Aquinas’ 3rd way - both the body of and conclusion

Question 9

What is the ‘weak analogy’ argument?

Answer 9

to use an analogy properly the two things being compared to must be similar. an analogy cannot be successful if there is no real point of comparison. (eg looking at a house & assuming a building or architect designed it for a purpose, but when comparing an entire universe to a house we cannot expect to draw the same conclusions)

Question 10

What part of the Teleological Argument does weak analogy challenge?

Answer 10

the reasoning of Paley’s argument

Question 11

What is the ‘order in the world’ argument?

Answer 11

we do not know for a fact that all order comes because of an intelligent idea. all we can say is there is in fact order in the world - this is still limited because we don’t have experience of other worlds to compare to this one. the order we perceive might be a feature of our perception rather than something ‘out there’

Question 12

What part of the Teleological Argument does order in the world challenge?

Answer 12

the starting observations of all design arguments is that we perceive order in the world

Question 13

What is the ‘order is necessary’ challenge?

Answer 13

order is a necessary part of the world’s existence. if nothing suited it’s purpose the world would not be here anymore. any world will look ordered because if it were chaotic, it would cease to exist. creatures around us are suited to their purpose by chance, because the ones not suited did not survive. so there is no need for a necessary god

Question 14

What part of the teleological argument does ‘order is necessary’ challenge?

Answer 14

the starting observations of all design arguments is that we perceive order in the world

Question 15

What is the ‘not christian god’ challenge?

Answer 15

even if we can assume a creator, why must it be a Christian God? we have an imperfect and finite world so how can we assume the creator is a perfect and infinite being? we do not know for sure is God is good or loving or all knowing just by looking at the world. he may have copied the idea from another God or just accidentally created the world

Question 16

What part of the Teleological Argument does ‘not christian god’ challenge?

Answer 16

the conclusion of all design arguments

Question 17

What is the ‘committee of gods’ challenge?

Answer 17

there is no reason to assume the world was made by just one god. (example: there is no reason for us to believe a watch was made by just one person, and that all watches were made by the same person. there are other possibilities that are just as likely; world could have been made by a committee of gods, demons, angels)

Question 18

What part of the Teleological Argument does the committee of gods challenge?

Answer 18

the conclusion of all design arguments

Question 19

What is the ‘unique’ argument?

Answer 19

the universe is unique - we have nothing to compare it to. we cant say what it could have been like or how it came to be because we have not experienced anything like it coming into being. we do not know how worlds are usually made so we cannot make any conclusions

Question 20

What part of the Teleological Argument does ‘unique’ challenge?

Answer 20

the reasoning of Paley’s argument

Question 21

What is the Big Bang Theory?

Answer 21

a scientific argument for the development of the universe. argues the universe originated approx 13 billion years ago from an explosion of a very small agglomeration of matter. as a result the universe was formed as this matter expanded. as the temperature of the matter cooled, galaxies, suns, planets etc gradually formed. the universe still continues to expand to this today

Question 22

Who is seen as the creator of the Big Bang Theory?

Answer 22

Edwin Hubble

Question 23

Why did Hubble conclude the universe must be expanding?

Answer 23

other galaxies were gradually moving away from our galaxy

Question 24

What is the name of Stephen Hawking’s book?

Answer 24

Grand Design

Question 25

What did Hawking say in response to the Big Bang Theory?

Answer 25

it was “an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, it is not necessary to create a god”

Question 26

How does the Big Bang Theory critique the Cosmological and Teleological argument?

Answer 26

because it states the universe formed naturally purely through the laws of science. so there is no need for a causer god (CA) or a designer god (TA) to have started/crafted the universe.

Question 27

Why is the Big Bang Theory a potentially strong theory?

Answer 27

it is empirical/a posteriori

Question 28

How might Paley respond to the Big Bang Theory?

Answer 28

he might argue that the Big Bang itself could be seen as evidence for a divine designer. He might suggest that the precise conditions and mechanisms required for the Big Bang to result in a universe capable of supporting life could be viewed as evidence of purpose and design.

Question 29

How might Aquinas respond to the Big Bang Theory?

Answer 29

He might view the Big Bang as the event that set the universe in motion but would argue that this event itself requires an uncaused cause or a prime mover, which he would identify with God.

Question 30

What is the theory of Evolution?

Answer 30

all of today’s species have evolved from simple life forms that first started to develop over 3 billion years ago

Question 31

What is survival of the fittest?

Answer 31

founded by Darwin. members of a species whose characteristics were best suited to enable them to survive in their environment went on to breed and survive, those unsuited generally died off

Question 32

How does the theory of evolution challenge the CA and TA?

Answer 32

our world was not designed by a god to perfectly fit humans. our species, humans, best adapted to this world and therefore survived and dominated it.

Question 33

What did Darwin believe about the idea of a designer god?

Answer 33

he believed ‘a god’ had nothing to do with the earth’s design. in fact, there was no design at all, it was just random evolution and so the TA was completely wrong

Question 34

Why is the theory of evolution a powerful argument?

Answer 34

it has empirical evidence to back it up. eg Dawkins added 20th century scientific proof to back up Darwin’s 19th century theory

Question 35

How did Dawkins back up Darwin’s theory of evolution?

Answer 35

random mutations can occur to create evolution because of random mistakes in our DNA molecules. DNA mutations that were beneficial for survival enabled that life form to flourish. any useless DNA mutations weren’t useful and that life form died off

Question 36

What are 2 strengths of the Cosmological argument?

Answer 36

1. it has modern scientific support because science accepts all effects must have a cause. example - in nature nothing happens without a cause. this is easily testable - put a football in the middle of a room and see if it moves without a cause. (a posteriori)
2. FC Copleston - it is logically impossible for anything to cause itself because this would mean that it would’ve had to already exist to make itself exists. example - you cant cause yourself. therefore there must be an external agent (God) who caused humanity

Question 37

What are 3 strengths of the Teleological Argument?

Answer 37

1. Arthur Brown - ozone layer is “a wall that is just the right thickness, which prevents death to every living thing”. evidence of order/regularity in nature and this ordering power is God
2. answers back the big bang criticism - anthropic argument. the natural laws of the universe have been fine tuned to allow human life to exist. if laws of nature were even slightly altered we would cease to exist
3. answers back the evolution criticism - aesthetic argument. our capacity for joy was put into us by God because beauty does not aid us in survival

Question 38

What are 3 weaknesses of the Cosmological argument?

Answer 38

1. Hume’s empirical objections
2. Hume’s ‘critique of causes (fallacy of composition)’
3. Big Bang Theory

Question 39

What are 4 weaknesses of the Teleological Argument?

Answer 39

1. Hume’s ‘problems with analogies’
2. Hume’s ‘more than one god’ criticism and ‘absent designer’ criticism
3. Big Bang Theory
4. Theory of Evolution