Teleological Argument

?
  • Created by: lar.hos
  • Created on: 24-03-18 18:32
View mindmap
  • AGAINST
    • Dawkins
      • =supported Darwin that random mutations in DNA alone allowed variation in the world =Natural selection gave the appearance of design which led to the mistake of assuming design in the universe.
    • Darwin
      • =Proposed the theory of Natural selection
      • Natural selection= The fittest and healthiest members of society survive and characteristics are passing down through generations
      • =Challenges Paley and Aquinas
      • =Proposes that design is in fact a result of natural and random process
    • Teleological Argument
      • FOR
        • Swinburne
          • Natural law is too big for science to explain =Science cannot explain the order in the world =Nothing can happen by chance it is too complex
          • Card shuffling analogy =Victim has to use the machine to get 10 aces or it'll explode = It doesn't explode so the victim is right that it happened by chance =Creation couldn't happen through luck so God or a designer must have designed it
          • Criticism of Hume
            • = It is simpler to conclude that the laws of nature must exist due to a divine intelligence =Accepting that it was chance requires just as much of a 'leap of faith'
            • =God's character proves that God would have good reason to make the universe
        • Tennant
          • Anthropic Argument
            • =The world has to be as it is in order for us to be here =The chances of conditions on earth being so perfect to allow human life to develop by chance =Shows 'fine tuning', therefore there must be a designer
          • Aesthetic Argument
            • =Humans possess an ability to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings (music/art) =This is not necessary for the survival or development of human life so it cannot be a result of natural selection
        • Paley
          • Watch analogy
            • =A watch is too complex so needs a watchmaker to explain how it came into being =It is clear that  the universe is complex and must have a designer
          • Design qua purpose= Everything appears to have been designed to fulfil some purpose
          • Design qua regularity= Regularity in the universe shows design
        • Aristotle
          • Everything in nature has a telos =Something is what it is partly because of its purpose, because of the goal at which it aims =Relies on a distinction on actuality and potentiality
            • Example: the potential to be a wall is in the matter, the bricks, not the form. The actuality depends on the form being realised
        • Polkinghorne
          • God chose to create a universe governed by chance and laws
        • Aquinas
          • P1= There are beings without knowledge that act for ends P2= If a being without knowledge acts for an end, then it must be because its directed by a being with knowledge and intelligence Conc= Therefore, there must be a being with knowledge and intelligence, GOD
    • Hume
      • There is no reason to assume the creator was the Christian God =Our God could have been stupid and caused the design by accident
      • No reason to assume that it was made by one God =The world could have been made by a committee or a team of Gods
      • Multi-verses =We cannot compare our world to others so how do we know that ours has order =It is an inductive leap to say it was God
      • There is a possibility that it happened by chance =A world would look designed because if it was not then it would be chaotic
      • We shouldn't assume that if we look at the effects, we can infer the cause (God) =Cause and effect doesn't operate as simply as looking at the world and assuming its God
      • Disagreed with Paley = The connection between the world and the watch is weak = You can see design in the watch as it couldn't have happened by chance =The world should be compared to a vegetable not a machine because it is organic =There is no evidence of design in the natural world
    • Kant
      • =The design argument is based on the premise that there is a design in the universe =The universe may be in a state of chaos and confusion =Our minds assimilate and organise sense experiences into a perceived order
      • Questions how we can even be sure that order exists in the world.
        • =Existence of God can only be proven using the existence of our inner moral 'law' as the starting point

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Philosophy resources:

See all Philosophy resources »See all Ideas of gods resources »