Arguments based on observation

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  • Arguments based on observation
    • Cosmological argument
      • Cosmological’ comes from the Greek word ‘cosmos’
        • meaning the cosmos/universe is an orderly system
      • Aquinas developed his Cosmological Argument from the influence of Aristotle’s teachings
        • Aristotle taught that everything that exists can be explained by 4 causes
          • By ‘cause’ Aristotle means ‘explanation’
          • The material cause is a thing’s potential
          • the formal cause is a things actuality
          • The efficient cause is what makes potential things actual
            • Aristotle conclusion was that there must be a First Efficient Cause which he calls the Prime Mover
          • the final cause is something’s final purpose.
        • Aquinas gave three versions of the cosmological argument
          • The First Way: The unmoved mover
            • Aquinas noticed that the ways in which things move or change must mean that something has made that motion to take place
          • The second Way: The Uncaused Causer
            • In this, Aquinas talks about how everything we observe is caused by something else
            • Nothing can be its own efficient cause because it cannot have existed before itself
          • The Third Way: contingency and necessity
            • Everything in the universe relies on something to have brought it into existence and also things to let it continue to exist
      • The cosmological argument start with observation about the universe works
        • From these try to explain why the universe exists
          • Leibniz= 'Why is there something rather than nothing?'
      • Strengths
        • Its a posteriori argument
          • It''s based on empirical evidence gained through the senses by observing the world around us and coming to conclusions.
        • Gottfried Leibniz
          • He raised the question: 'why is there something rather than nothing?'
            • In order to address his question, Leibniz offered a form of the cosmological argument which he based his 'Principle of Sufficient Reason
              • The principle states that everything which exists must have a reason or a cause for its existence.
              • The principle suggests that if something exists, there must be a reason it exists
              • If a statement is true, there must be a reason why the statement is true
              • If something happen, there must be a reason why that thing happened
          • An endless series of copied geometry books
        • The Big Bang theory supports this explanation but it also to an extent challenges it
      • weaknesses
        • Hume
          • Argued that just because things within the universe can be explained through causes, does not mean there is a cause for the universe as a whole
            • Referred as the Fallacy of composition
    • Teleological Argument
      • The Teleological Argument is the argument for design
      • The word teleological comes from the Greek word ‘Telos’ meaning ‘end’ or ‘purpose’.
      • This argument seeks to prove Gods existence based on the evidence of apparent order and design.
      • It is also an a posteriori argument and therefore uses evidence from the world around us to prove Gods existence.
      • The origins of this argument can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle
        • Plato
          • Plato believed in a universe that was pre-existent
            • For Plato, this was a rational explanation as to why there existed order, rather than chaos
          • Within this universe there existed a being who has the power to shape worlds.
          • Plato names this being as the Demi-Urge. This Demi-Urge is responsible for all things on Earth.
        • Aristotle
          • Aristotle considered that based on his observations of the world around him and the stars above him, the only possible explanation for all the complexity and beauty that the world contains was a Divine Intelligence.
          • Aristotle put forward an argument in his ‘Metaphysics’ book that there had to of been a First Unmoved Mover, and the source of all the order that exists in the universe.
            • Such a God was also viewed as possessing intelligence and goodness.
      • William Paley
        • William Paley’s most famous work was published in his book ‘Natural Theology’
        • Paley believed that one could understand something about the nature of God by looking into God’s creation of the natural world.
        • Paley argues that if we were to discover a stone upon a heath, it would not be strange to conclude that this stone could have possibly have been there forever.
          • However, if we were to come across a watch, we would not come to the same conclusion. There are two reasons for this
            • The second reason is because the watch works in a very specific way.
              • This is because it follows an orderly pattern.
                • If the watch worked in a different way, then the watch wouldn’t serve the purpose of telling the time.
            • The first reason is because the watch has purpose.
              • The reason why the cogs within the watch work in a very specific way is because the watch has the purpose of telling the time.
        • Paley concludes that because this watch has purpose and order, then it must have had a designer
          • If Paley can conclude that the order and purpose within a watch points to a designer; then the same can be said about the universe.
            • The designer of the universe is God.
    • Natural theology
      • Is the name given to attempt to demonstrate the existence of God
      • It determines the power of God using human reason
      • It's a contrast with revealed theology
        • based on the doctrine that all religious truth is derived exclusively from the revelations of God to humans

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