Hume's Design Argument Flashcards
In general Design arguments have 3 features in regards to them. What are these three?
1) They are a posteriori (p’s justified through experience),
2) they appeal to empirical features of the world, observed using the sense,
And,
3) they usually claim that the world has complexity and functionality as evidence of gods existence.
In Hume’s work, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, he uses three characters to debate gods existence, who are these and what philosophical standpoint do they have?
Cleanthes (a theist)
Philo (Cleathes’ main critic)
Demea (Sceptical contributor)
What does Cleanthes claim about the world?
That the whole world works as a machine. This machine has an infinite number of subdivisions that go beyond what human senses can explain, however certain subdivision work particularly together.
What does Cleanthes infere from his observation regarding the world?
Cleanthes inferes ‘by the rules of analogy’ that the creator of nature must be like-minded to the mind of man, due to the complexity and functionality of the universe.
What is Hume argument for god?
P1: Machines (A) have features of complexity and functionality, exemplifying an adapting of means to an ends (XYZ) which is casually related to being produced by an intelligent designer (J)
P2: The Universe (P) resembles a machine in virtue of exhibiting features of complexity and functionailty, exemplifying an adapting of means to an edns (XYZ), so
C1: P was probably produced by an intelligent J
C2: The intelligent designer is God
What is an Inductive Analogy?
Inductive analogy is a type of argument that follows the following structure:
P1: Analogue subject (A) has X,Y,Z features which are causally related to A’s being J (J having one of the XYZ features)
P2: Primary subject (P) has similar features (X’Y’Z’)
Thereby,
C: P is probably J, since they share similiar features.
What does Hume mean by Complexity?
arrangement of parts in law-like relation to each other
What does Hume mean by Functionality
parts working together to serve overall function.
What system does Complexity and Functionality collectively form?
The teleological system.
Cleanthes argues that because the whole universe is a system that like a machine exemplifies an adapting of means to an ends.
The universe is a system because it exhibits features of complexity and functionality.
Does this work?
No. Does the vast universe all uphold to a law-like nature? No there may be facets of the universe that remains unexplored that exhibits chaos aka does not exhibits complexity and functionality. Besides this there already exits things that are not lawful in nature.
What does Philo accuse Cleanthes of engaging in, when he argues that:
Philo suggest that:
“Can a conclusion, with any propriety, be transfered from parts to the whole?.. From observing the growth of a hair, can we learn anything concerning the generation of a man?
A Fallacy of Composition (FoC)
What is a Fallacy of Composition?
A FoC, is a conclusion drawn about the whole X based on the factors about its parts with no further justification.
Essentially since part X has XYZ characteristics, the whole X must have XYZ charactericsts.
E.g. part of a tree is made of wood, therefor the whole of a tree is made of wood.
What does Philo critique in Cleanthes argumentation besides the FoC?
The moving from C1 to C2.
Philo argues that the stronger analogy between the effects, here referring to machines and the universe, the less likely that the cause of the universe is an infinite God, because machines are not caused by an infinite creator.
Essentially the universe is not necessarily attributed to a god.
