The Existence of God: arguments based on observation

Question 1

What are the two different kinds of arguments about the existence of God?

Answer 1

• arguments based on observation
• arguments based on reason

Question 2

What are the main arguments based on observation?

Answer 2

the teleological argument - based on design or the apparent order of the universe
the cosmological argument- percieved general quality

Question 3

What is the main argument based on reason?

Answer 3

the ontological argument- relating to the metaphysics or existence of

Question 4

What is Aquinas’ Fifth Way ?

Answer 4

takes over from Artistotle’s final cause saying that everything as a telos (goal or an end)
purpose comes from God, less focus on the way things fit together and more so on what they are for

Question 5

Criticism of Fifth way - Aquinas

Answer 5

Does everything actually have a purpose? Biology tells us some things have no purpose at all

Do we give things purpose?
Purpose implies a mental state, that inanimate objects lack, so how can they have purpose unless we as humans give it purpose?

‘Or nearly always’ - Aquinas is hesistant. Surely if there was a purpose for EVERYTHING, there would always be one.

What about things that have no good purpose e.g. nettles that sting us, if we find purpose in them by making soup that is not the nettle having purpose in itself

Question 6

What is Paley’s design argument?

Answer 6

• mechanical model
• the complexity of the human brain where millions of cells coordinate together
• regularity of the world surely points to design, and hence a designer

Question 7

What comments does Paley add to his watch analogy?

Answer 7

• the analogy is still valid if we had never seen a watch, it is so complex compared to the rock it must have a origin
• even if the watch is imperfect it has enough design to assume there is a designer
• even if the function of some parts was unknown there is stil a designer

Question 7

What is the Paley’s watch analogy?

Answer 7

• Walking in the wilderness comes upon a rock, can naturally account for its existence
• Instead, comes upon a watch which cannot be accounted for naturally
• Design could not have come about by chance
• There must be a designer

Question 8

What are some of Hume’s ideas that counter Paley’s?(written over 20 years before though)

Answer 8

1. aptness of analogy
2. epicurean thesis
3. argument from effect to cause

Question 9

Expand on Hume’s aptness of analogy

Answer 9

-It is unrealistic to compare the natural world to a machine
-A cabbage is desgined and fit for purpose, but doesnt have a cabbage maker
Choosing the machine suggests thinkers like Paley have alsready assumed the conclusion and determined the result they want

Question 10

Expand on Hume’s use of Epicurean thesis

Answer 10

Theory that the universe is made of a finite number of particles in infinite time
Apparent order can be randomly explained
e.g. old tale of monkeys in a room full of typewriters being able to type every combination of writing from the Bible to Shakespeare

Question 11

Expand on Hume’s concept of effect to cause to criticise paley

Answer 11

cannot go from evidence in the natural world to assuming that an all-loving eternal God created it

e.g. set of scales, the lighter which we can see and the heavier which we cannot, the one that is lighter is in the air but we cannot assume to know what is causing the other one to be heavier

Question 12

Mill’s criticism of the desgin argument

Answer 12

• There is too much evil in the world for there to be designer
  A flawed universe - of moral and natural evil- suggests a flawed creator

Question 13

What does Anthony Kenny say about Paley’s design argument?

Answer 13

Leads to a God that is no more a source of good than it is of evil
The God of the design argument is not of supreme goodness

Question 14

Evolution as a rejection of design

Answer 14

• Darwin’s book On the Origin of species
  -examined the species of the Galpogos islands survival of the fittest (Huxley) and natural selection to explain the design, not a God
• survival is by chance, not due to having a purpose
• if adaptation is meant to represent part of the process of design then it seems really wasteful a process.

Question 15

What is F.R Tennants anthropic principle (modern version of design argument)

Answer 15

The view that the universe exists for the sake of humankind and is partiuclarly adapted to that purpose

• chances of human life in relation to the sun (aligns with evolution)

Question 16

Point against the anthropic principle

Answer 16

The earth is a tiny dot in the universe
what evidence is there for designers in other uninhabited galaxies, what purpose do they serve?

Question 17

What was Richard Swinburne’s idea of simplicity in relation to the design argument

Answer 17

Few elements operating to the same simple laws yet our world is so rich and complex
Simplest explaination is that God planned it

Ockhams razor- Refers to the idea that theories should not be multiplied beyond necessity. The theory with the smallest number of assumptions is most likely to be correct

Question 18

Criticisms for Swinburnes simplicity argument

Answer 18

1. simple doesnt mean correct, the explaination can be complex and correct
2. is God a simple explaination since we do not know God’s. nature or function
3. Evil remains problematic and purposeless things

Question 19

What does Swinburne mean by Temporal order of the universe

Answer 19

the all pervasiveness of regularity in the universe must mean there is a cosmic designer ensuring regularity

Question 20

What is the cosmological argument proposed by Aquinas

Answer 20

based on God’s alleged ability to create the universe, referring to God as the first cause or prime mover

Question 21

What are aquinas first 3 ways?

Answer 21

1. Prime mover(MOTION) - derived from Aristotle (indifferent), for Aquinas the divine initiator of all change and motion
2. First cause - the uncaused beginning for all of other beings
3. Necessity and contingency

Question 22

Why is the First cause problematic?

Answer 22

1. What is the exact moment that cause is suceeded by effect?- we cannot know
2. The cause of God cannot be related in the same scientific way of the cause of ordinary things

Question 23

What does Neccesity and Contigency mean

Answer 23

Something that has to be the case
Something is contigent if its existence depedants on something else to exist

Question 24

Problem with necessity and contingency?

Answer 24

Assumes a time where nothing exists for there to be a neccesary being - but what if there were just overlapping chains of contigent beings and 'nothing' never existed (infinite regress)

Question 25

What did William temple say about Infinite regress

Answer 25

infinite regress is impossible to imagine but not impossible to concieve in our minds The fact that it is logically possbile

Question 26

Why did Aquinas say there cannot be infinite regress in relation to his ways

Answer 26

First Way – Motion: Everything that moves is moved by something else. But there can’t be an infinite chain of movers, because then nothing would ever get moving. So there must be an unmoved mover — which Aquinas identifies as God. Second Way – Causation: Every effect has a cause. But if there's an infinite chain of causes, there would be no first cause, and therefore no effects now. Since effects do exist, there must be a first uncaused cause — again, God. Third Way – Contingency: Contingent things (things that could not exist) exist. If everything were contingent, at some point, nothing would have existed. But if nothing ever existed, then nothing could exist now. Therefore, there must be a necessary being — one that must exist — and that’s God.

Question 27

A01 PARA E.G FOR INFINITE REGRESS

Answer 27

Aquinas rejects the idea of infinite regress in his cosmological argument, particularly in his Second Way based on causation. He argues that every effect has a cause, but if this chain went back infinitely, there would be no first cause and therefore no subsequent effects. Just as a train cannot move without an engine, the universe cannot exist without a first uncaused cause. Aquinas concludes that this necessary starting point — the first efficient cause — is what we understand to be God

Question 28

Leibniz and the principle of sufficient reason

Answer 28

Everything must have a reason or explaination - neccessary being doesnt have a reason - God applies to 1. existence - why something exists and not nothing 2. for every event there is sufficient reason to explain its occurrence 3. why does the universe exist the way it does

Question 29

How does Russel use Hume's concept of the fallacy of composition to object cosmological arguments?

Answer 29

What is true of the part must be true of the whole Aristotle- guilty because he argues that just because every part of the body has a function, the human must too Russel argues we cannot go from saying all of mankind has a mother to saying the universe has one - conclusion of a transcendent creator is unjustified psychological perspective- we seek explanation based on no evidence that there is one and despite knowing it is logically possible for there to be no explanation

Question 30

How should we view the question of God's existence?

Answer 30

- a failed scientific hypothesis -to treat it as a scientific enquiry would be an error - D.Z Philips - to seek an explanation for God is a mistaken enterprise