Design Argument

What are the premisies of the teleological argument?

• There are objects without knowledge that act for ends (for a purpose)

• If a being without knowledge acts for an end, it’s because it is directed by a being with knowledge and intelligence

• So, there is a being with knowledge and intelligence

Which of Aquinas’ 5 ways are teleological?

The fifth

What does design qua regularity mean?

The order and regularity in the universe is evidence of a designer at work.

What does design qua purpose mean?

The parts of the universe seem to fit together for a purpose.

What is the name of Paley’s book?

Natural Theology (1802)

Outline Paley’s watchmaker analogy?

• Complex watch needs a watchmaker to explain how it came into being

• The universe is complex and must also have a designer

• The complexity of nature is far greater than any manmade machine

• Requires a grand designer - that being God

What are the criticisms of Paley’s watchmaker analogy?

• The universe’s flaws count against the claim that it is designed

• The analogy between the watch and the universe is too weak

• Inadequacies of general inductive arguments

What is Hume’s first criticism of the ‘watchmaker analogy’

Questioning the analogy: Hume says this is a weak a analogy because “there are other parts of the universe which bear still a greater resemblance to the fabric of the world […] these parts are animals and vegetables.”

What is Hume’s second criticism of the ‘watchmaker analogy’

It may not be the Christian God: we live in finite and imperfect world

What is Hume’s third criticism of the ‘watchmaker analogy’

Order is a necessary part of the world’s existence: If everything was random and nothing was suited its purpose then the world would not be here anymore.

What is the The Epicurean Hypothesis?

Epicurus argues that order can come from chaos and once order is established it tends to perpetuate itself. As the universe is eternal, it is inevitable that an ordered state would develop eventually.

What is Hume’s fourth criticism of the ‘watchmaker analogy’

Questioning the appearance of order: We do not have any other universes to compare our universe to. Our world, with its faults, might actually be a prototype.

What is Hume’s fifth criticism of the ‘watchmaker analogy’

Just one God?: If we are going to use an analogy of manufactured objects, then it is more usual for a machine to be designed and made by many hands

What is Hume’s sixth criticism of the ‘watchmaker analogy’

Nature is “red in tooth and claw”: Observing design in the world leasds us to conclude a malevolent or inadequate God.

What is John Stuart Mill’s argument?

In his essay, ‘On Nature’, he argued that if the world had been deliberately designed then it indicates something very different from a loving creator God.

What is Darwin’s theory/argument?

Darwin did not design argument explicitly, but his views are important because those who supported design arguments were saying that such complexity and suitability could only have come about by the agency of God.

What is Tennant’s Aesthetic Principle?

• Design Qua Purpose

• Humans possess the ability to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings

• Such abilities are NOT survival instincts

  • “beauty seems to be superfluous and has little survival value.”

What is Tennant’s Anthropic Principle?

Evolution is entirely consistent with design arguments because of the way evolution itself seems to have a purpose. He argues “nature is meaningless and valueless without God behind it and Man in front.” There are a large number of ‘coincidences’ necessary for life.

What did Wickramasinge say in response to Tennant?

The likelihood of the universe being created by chance is the same as a whirlwind tearing through a scrapyard and creating a Boeing 747.

What is the weakness of Tennant’s aesthetic argument?

• Beauty is value-judgement and and subjective

• Some things in nature aren’t beautiful

What is the critical analogy against the anthropic argument?

Imagine a puddle finding a hole and thinking ‘it fits me perfectly, it must be made just for me’.

What does Swinburne about the teleological argument?

“So I suggest the order of the world is evidence of the existence of God.”