1B Inductive - Teleological

What does 'design qua regularity' mean?

Order and regularity in the universe = evidence of a designer at work

What is the Fifth Way taken from?

"The governance of the world"

Summarise Aquinas' Fifth Way

- Something that lacks intelligence cannot move towards fulfilling a useful end, unless something with intelligence has moved it

-"things which lack knowledge, such as natural bodies, act for an end...to obtain the best result...they achieve their end, not fortuitously, but designedly"

- Things follow the laws ∴ fulfil their telos; but cannot think for themselves ∴ they have been "directed by something else" - must be God

What analogy did Aquinas use for his Fifth Way?

- Arrow cannot reach target by itself, must be "directed by the archer"
- Relates this to the workings of the universe ∵ everything follows natural laws even if possess no intelligence

Where does one of the most ancient teleological arguments come from?

Cicero's 'De Natura Deorum' (45 BC)

Give a Bible passage that supports the teleological argument.

Psalm 19: "the vault of heaven reveals his handiwork"

What does 'design qua purpose' mean?

The parts of the universe appear to fit together for a purpose

When was 'design qua purpose' developed?

- 17th C. in response to the new mechanistic physics
- Newton discovered the universal laws of gravity and motion ∴ many scientists saw the universe as a 'machine' with all parts working together
∴ no longer necessary to believe that God caused the movements

In what book did Paley respond to the mechanical analogy?

• 'Natural Theology' (1802)

What is the first part of Paley's argument?

- Design qua purpose
- If one were to discover a stone on a heath, may conclude that "it had lain there for ever"
- If one were to discover a watch on the ground, would conclude that, as it is so complex, it did not come into existence by chance
- An intelligent person would infer that it had a designer
- We would draw this conclusion even if: unaware of purpose; didn't understand some of its parts; if it went wrong
- The universe = likewise complex ∴ too infers a designer

Give a quote from Paley to summarise the first part of his argument.

- "every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature"
- Nature = "greater and...exceeds all computation"

What four examples of detailed workings does Paley give to support the first part of his argument?

- Eye
- Bird's wings
- Fish's gills
- Lacteal system

What is the second part of Paley's argument?

- Design qua regularity
- Rotation of planets + how they hold their orbits due to gravity = could not be chance ∴ an external agent must have imposed regularity/order

How does the 20th Century philosopher, Arthur Brown, support design qua purpose?

- Our planet = only one with ozone layer
- The purpose of the ozone layer = to filter out ultraviolet rays to protect life
- Could not have happened by chance

What is significant about Tennant's design argument?

One of the first to put forward a design argument that included acceptance of evolution
- Creatures do not randomly evolve, they make progress
- Life forms become more intelligent and increase in moral awareness

According to Tennant, which three types of natural evidence suggest a designer?

- That the world can be analysed in a rational way
- That the inorganic world provides necessities to sustain life
- That evolution has led to intelligent human life

What is Tennant's anthropic principle?

Natural laws are fine-tuned (cosmic fine-tuning) to allow human life to exist.

If gravity or atmospheric gases were even slightly different, human life could not have existed.

Tennant argues against the claim that the universe is a change of coincidences

Explain, scientifically, how unlikely our existence is.

- The mass density of the universe is finely balanced to permit life to a degree of one part in 10(to power 60).

- If the universe were slightly more massive, an overabundance of deuterium from the big bang would cause stars to burn too rapidly for the formation of complex life.

- If the universe were slightly less massive, an insufficiency of helium would result in a shortage of the heavy elements - again, resulting in no life.

What is the strong anthropic principle?

- The universe must have the properties that make existence of intelligent life inevitable.

- The conditions are intrinsic to the Big Bang.

What is the weak anthropic principle?

• It is impossible to observe a universe that does not permit the existence of observers

What is the participatory anthropic principle?

• An observer is needed to cause the collapse of the wave function

What is Tennant's aesthetic principle?

• We have an appreciation for beauty, but it is not needed for survival - does not perform a utilitarian function.

• No other species appreciate beauty.

• God wanted His creation to enjoy living in the world

Give a quote from Tennant to explain how he views beauty.

• "Biologically superfluous accompaniment of the cosmic process"