Teleological Argument

Question 1

The Argument from Aquinas

Answer 1

• The fifth of his five ways
• Works a posteriori (after sense experience) of the apparent order and purpose found in nature.
• We know that nothing inanimate is purposeful without the aid of a guiding hand. Therefore everything in nature which is moving but which has no intelligence must be directed to its goal by God. Now whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is shot to its mark by the archer. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

Question 2

The Argument from Paley

Answer 2

• Natural Theology, or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity collected from the Appearances of Nature
• Put forward in a wider context or great progress in the fields of science – the more people learned about the world the more clear it seemed to be that there was an intelligent creator and designer behind it all.
• Uses the analogy of discovering a watch and presuming the intelligence of it’s designer.
• Paley said that looking at a watch was similar to looking at the world and noticing how it all works together – so intricately that one can only infer that there must have been a divine intelligence ordering it.
• Paley concluded that there was not only evidence of intelligent design, but of God’s care – if God cared enough about each insect to design it with such attention to detail, then surely people can be confident that God will care for them too:
• We have no reason to fear, therefore, our being forgotten, or overlooked, or neglected.

Question 3

Challenges from Hume

Answer 3

• Hume was writing before Paley so ‘Hume criticises Paley’ is inaccurate – instead Hume criticises teleological arguments in general.
• Arguments from analogy are weak – it works from what we know about (i.e. a watch) to what we are ignorant about (the scale and work of the universe)
• The universe appears to be more organic than mechanical i.e. more like a carrot than a watch.
• The argument does not demonstrate the existence of God: Could it have been designed by a committee rather than just the product of one designer? Are we guilty of making the designer more a human figure than is true?
• It is rare for a designer to get it absolutely right first time – so is this actually a draft form of the world?
• Does the existence of evil in the world make us suspect that the world was created by a God who lacked power, skill or even love to create something better?

Question 4

Challenges from Mill

Answer 4

• The Universe is not a pleasant place – we witness in nature events which if carried out by a human, would be punished with the full force of the law.
• It could not be concluded from looking at the world that God is all-knowing, loving or powerful or that he is worthy of worship.
• The existence of so much suffering in the world therefore means that if God exists:
• Either he is not Good Or God is limited in some way

Question 5

Challenges from Darwinism

Answer 5

• Darwin’s theory of evolution provides an alternative explanation of the apparent ‘design’ of the universe.
• The theory of the evolution through natural selection states that species that fail to suit their environment die out, those who are better suited are able to pass on their DNA to the next generation.
• It is therefore not design that allows a species to thrive but evolution as a ‘blind’ process guided by the principle of survival of the fittest.