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- The Teleological Argument, also known as the Design Argument, is concerned with the reason why the world functions in an orderly and intelligent manner.
- This a posteriori argument begins with the natural world and, by use of analogy, goes on to prove the existence of God.
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- Fifth Way: Many objects in the world without innate intelligence perform in a way that achieves the best possible results. If they follow natural laws, they tend to do well and have some goal or purpose. He used the analogy of an arrow. The reason the arrow reaches its target is that an archer directs it there. The reason objects in our world perform their job efficiently is that they were designed that way and are directed by something which does think. This proves that there is an intelligent designer behind everything in our world. That designer is God.
- Aquinas begins with an empirical fact, that everything in the world is nearly always adapted to fulfil its function. He then moves on by way of an analogy to prove his point. Aquinas’ argument is an argument to design, or an argument from regularity.
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- In crossing a heath, if you were to discover a stone, you could suppose that the stone had been there forever.
- However, if you found a watch on the ground, this sort of explanation wouldn’t do because a watch is clearly an intricate piece of workmanship. Its parts are designed and put together for a purpose. They are formed and adjusted to produce motion, and that motion is regulated to point out the hour of the day. If any of the parts had been shaped differently or put together in another order the watch would not work. All the parts of the watch have been designed and assembled in the right order by a watchmaker for the purpose of keeping time.
- Just as the watch being designed necessitates a designer to explain why it exists, so all of nature requires a much greater designer. The complexity of nature is far greater than any machine human beings can make. The whole of nature requires a grand designer. That designer is God.
- Paley moved to the natural world and stated the same efficient design is found there. He chose the human eye as an example of a complex mechanism designed specifically for the purpose of sight.
- Paley’s argument is an argument from design, or an argument from purpose.
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- F.R. Tennant developed an argument called ‘The Anthropic Principle’ which states that the conditions on earth are perfect for human life to form and exist, so that they cannot have come about purely by chance.
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- Comparing God, the creator of the world, to anything on earth is not a valid analogy. More specifically, Hume does not accept the comparison of the natural world with Paley’s mechanistic watch.
- We know that machines are made by humans because we have seen it happen, but no one has seen a world being made by any being.
- Because we live inside the world and don’t know any other worlds to compare it with, Hume thought humans were not in a position to make a valid judgement. There is nothing within the universe to which a universe can be satisfactorily compared to infer that it has an intelligent designer.
- Hume suggests that our world with its faults may actually be a prototype. Because we live on the earth and don’t know anything else, how do we know this is an example of a perfect world? Our universe might not be the perfect product of a divine craftsman. He suggested the Epicurean Thesis as a possible explanation for the design of the universe. Epicurus put forward the idea of infinite time, in which there is a high number of particles moving about, going through every possible combination. If any one combination happens to represent a stable order, it must occur – this would have the appearance of design. Thus, apparent design could happen at random, without the need to infer a designer.
- Likening building the world to building a house, Hume suggested that there might be a team of builders involved, each having different skills. Who is to say there was not a team of gods involved in the construction of the universe?
- We see disasters and suffering which might mean the designer of the universe is not a loving, personal God. However, Paley rejected this point as he was not interested in the nature of God.
- Hume said the reason plants and animals appeared to be well-adjusted to their environment is that those that didn’t function properly died out. This links in with Darwin’s Natural Selection.
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- Darwin published his Theory of Evolution in a book entitled ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1859. Using a posteriori argument, Darwin looked at the world around him and reasoned why things were as they were. His conclusions challenged many existing beliefs about God and humanity. Darwin himself was an agnostic.
- Theory of Natural Selection – From scientific observation, Darwin noted that plants and animals changed as they adapted to their environment. Those that failed to adapt did not survive. Those that survived went on to breed so their characteristics were passed on to the next generation. Darwin produced evidence to show this was the case and that change had come about gradually and by chance.
- This idea was partly inspired by Charles Lyell’s ‘Principles of Geology’ which proposed that the earth’s landscape had developed through a process of small changes, over thousands of years, and not as a result of catastrophes in the past, such as Noah’s flood.
- Thomas Malthus had an idea that food supplies increase arithmetically, whilst population grows exponentially. The earth regulates its population growth.
- Darwin realised that ‘life struggles to exist’. Organisms are in competition with one another, and it is simply a case of survival of the fittest. Although the world we see around us has the appearance of design, the intricacies of nature can actually be explained by evolution. This needs no external being or designer.
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- Mill questioned the goodness of nature given the apparent cruelty to be found within nature. He said that ‘Nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another, are nature’s everyday performances’. The amount of goodness in nature is far outweighed by the amount of suffering.
- If progress comes through pain and suffering, what does that say about the nature of the designer of the universe? Mill considered the state of nature to be a reason to reject notions of design.
- However, Paley and Aquinas are concerned whether the universe exhibits signs of design that point to a designer; they were not at that point concerned with questions raised by the nature of the design.
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