Studied by 12 people
Introduction
Outline the design argument in own words
Define analogy
State that Swinburne’s argument from temporal order is the strongest argument
Ultimately argument fails to Nietzsche’s god of the gaps argument
Explain Hume’s (Cleanthes) argument from spatial order
P1. The world contains objects (Machines and boats) which have been designed and made for specific purposes.
P2. These objects (Machines and boats) have been designed and made by intelligent creatures
P3. The natural world appears to have been designed and made for a specific purpose.
C1. By analogy, the world has been designed by an intelligent being.
C2. This intelligent being is God.
If things in the world which exhibit design and purpose have been built by intelligent creatures the assumption, by analogy, is that the world has been designed by an intelligent being.
Nature exhibits Order, Unity, Coherence, Design, and Complexity.
Explain Philo’s criticisms of Hume’s (Cleanthes’) argument from spatial order
The analogy is weak and remote - Philo argues that there are very few similarities and a large number of differences, between a universe and a machine. Cleanthes has to infer from a tiny part of the universe, to the universe as a whole, making it very weak.
There are counter analogies - Philo suggests that the universe resembles something more organic than machine-like, more like a plant than a watch. If there is any appearance of functioning parts working towards some goal then this is caused by ‘generation or vegetation,’ not ‘reason or design.’
The similarities are cherry-picked - the argument chooses only parts of the analogy that support its conclusion and ignore the parts that undermine it, e.g it allows the designer to have human traits like intelligence, but not selfishness etc.
Explain Paley’s argument from spatial order
P1: Human artefacts (such as watches) are products of intelligent design
P2: The universe resembles human artefacts (due to the spatial order and purpose it exhibits)
C1: Therefore, the universe is a product of intelligent design.
P3: The universe is complex and gigantic in comparison to human artefacts
C2: Therefore, there is a powerful and vastly intelligent designer who created the universe
Examples in nature that exhibit design are the eye, a spider’s adaptation to be able to spin a web to catch its prey when it cannot fly, etc.
Briefly explain Paley’s passage of ‘In crossing a heath…’ concerned with finding a stone randomly compared to finding a watch, the watch is so intricate, complex, etc. that it requires a watchmaker, a designer. Can the same then be applied to the stone, etc.
Explain the criticisms of spatial disorder (Hume)
Philo imagines asking someone who hadn't seen the world to describe a universe made by a powerful, wise and benevolent God.
The universe they would describe would be very different from this one - as this universe, Philo notes, contains too much 'vice and misery and disorder' to justify belief in such a God.
So, the design argument ignores all the spatial disorders, faults and flaws in the universe.
Philo is proposing that this disorder in the arrangement and running of the universe is because the creator/designer of the universe lacked the power, skill or love to create a universe with less disorder.
Explain Paley’s response to the criticism of spatial disorder
Paley is aware that spatial disorder presents problems to the design argument but he doesn't think the issue of spatial disorder is fatal to the design argument
Paley argues that whether or not a watch actually works well is irrelevant; what is important is that the watch has qualities that indicate to us that it has been designed.
The same goes for the universe - spatial disorder does not matter if there is evidence of an arrangement of parts functioning together for a purpose.
Explain the criticism which is Hume’s argument from a unique case
P1 Design arguments make the inference that this universe and its properties were caused by a designer.
P2 We can make an inference that X caused Y only if we have repeatedly observed event X conjoined to event Y.
P3 We have observed only one universe - this universe - and its properties are a unique case.
P4 And we have never observed the origins of any universe.
C1 Therefore we cannot make any inference about the cause (and origins) of this universe and its properties.
C2 Therefore design arguments are based on an invalid inference.
Hume does not believe that we can observe causation; instead, we should think of causation as our experience that two events are 'constantly conjoined?
Explain Swinburne’s criticism of Hume’s argument from a unique case
Argues that experts such as cosmologists often make inferences (for example, that there was a Big Bang) based on unique cases (for example, background cosmic radiation) when studying the universe.
Saying that it is common to make inferences.
Explain Swinburne’s criticisms of the arguments from spatial order
Use Swinburne’s argument from spatial order to then criticise arguments from spatial order.
P1. We observe spatial order in the universe, or things with complex structures, like a chameleon’s ability to camouflage
P2. Nature, or evolutionary theory, is responsible for this spatial order. It can be likened to a ‘machine-making machine’
P3. Humans make both machines and machine-making machines
C1. By analogy, nature is a machine-making machine and that requires a creator of the machine-making machine
Nature is only a machine-making machine with respect to specific occurrences in the universe and one shouldn’t conclude that nature itself is a machine-making machine.
He admits the argument is fallacious due to its reliance on the ‘God of the gaps’.
Explain Nietzsche’s god of the gaps argument as a follow on to Swinburne’s criticisms of the arguments from spatial order
Also referred to as the ‘Argument from Ignorance’. This argument states that when there is a gap in understanding of the natural world, it is simply filled with the idea that there is a supernatural explanation or an explanation which is currently unknown. Nietzsche phrased it as ‘into every gap they put their delusion, their stopgap, which they call God’.
This argument can be presented as follows;
P1. There is a gap in understanding some aspect of the natural world
C1. Therefore, the cause must be supernatural
Explain Swinburne’s argument from temporal order
Temporal order is things which happen because of what came before, regularities of succession.
P1: Temporal regularities can be explained either by rational free agents with the intelligence, power and freedom to act or by fundamental laws of nature
P2: The existence of fundamental laws of nature violates the inviolable second law of Thermodynamics
C1: Therefore, the fundamental laws of nature and existence of the universe cannot be explained by science as science must assume the existence of natural laws and work within them
P3: Temporal regularities produced by human agency are similar to those produced by the laws of nature
P4: By analogy temporal regularities resulting from laws of nature could be explained by reference to a rational agent
P5: This is a more likely explanation than the universe existing due to chance
C2: The universe exists due to a divine rational agent
F.R.Tennant worded this as the universe is ‘a cosmos when conceivably it could have been a chaos’. ‘Cosmos’ means order within the world.
Swinburne concludes his argument by saying that there is probably an influence from outside of the ‘regularities of succession’ which caused the universe to be the way that it is, as there is no available scientific explanation as of yet. Which Swinburne called God.
Explain the Anthropic principle
If the Universe has those properties which allow life (intelligent) to develop within it at some stage in its history, then one of the following must be true:
There exists one possible Universe designed' with the goal of generating and sustaining observers' (theological universe). Or...
The Universe is a fluke, a random object and we are just lucky it turned out with the right conditions.
The Universe is not fine-tuned, quite the opposite, life conditions are very rare, but life is robust. Plus, there can be other forms of life besides carbon-based life.
An ensemble of other different universes is necessary for the existence of our Universe (multiple universes)
Conclusion
God of the gaps argument produces strong argument against
Important to acknowledge that it is only an argument from probability
There are other more convincing arguments for the existence of God like the ontological argument due to the differing nature of the argument (a priori vs a posteriori)
Note 
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