Teleological argument

Teleological argument

1. Design argument for the existence of God

   • Telos- end/purpose
   • Aquinas
     • Aquinas' fifth way
       • Unintelligent being needs an intelligent being to guide it towards its end purpose
         • God is the intelligent being
     • Example- the arrow being shot towards the target by the archer
   • William Paley
     • Two types of design arguments:
       • Design qua regularity
         • Gravity
         • Rotation of planets
       • Design qua purpose
         • Lacteal system in mammals- feed the amount of young
         • The eye- to see
         • Birds wings- to fly
     • Analogy of the watch
       • Watch has a purpose
         • To tell the time
           • Must have a designer
             • Watchmaker
             • The universe has a purpose
               • Therefore must have an intelligent designer

2. Modern arguments

   • Arthur Brown
     • Ozone layer is perfectly made for life
       • i.e. keeps gases in
         • It has a purpose
   • F.R Tennant
     • Anthropic principle
       • Order in nature suggests design not chance
         • Made for man to flourish
           • If it was any different we would not be here
         • More likely to be a designer than chance
     • Aesthetic principle
       • Beauty etc, not needed for survival
         • Must have been added in by a nice designer
   • Swinburne
     • Probabilities
       • More probable that the universe was designed than it occurred by random chance
         • God is the simplest explanation
           • Oculus razor
             • The simplest explanation is probably correct
       • Example of the mad man and the card machine
         • Card machines with a revolvers attatched
           • Mad man says that if the card machine produces anything but an ace, you will get shot
             • He turns on the machines, they all draw aces
               • You do not get shot
               • You must however question how this is possible for all of the machines to produce the right cards
                 • Just like you must question the universe and how everything is so perfect
                   • It needs an explanation

3. Counter arguments

   • Mill
     • If there was no suffering there would be a good designer
       • God isn't good if he created a world of suffering
         • No design qua regularity as there is no order in nature
       • Natural disasters
         • Manmade disasters are overmatched by natural disasters
           • "Nearly all the things which men are hanged or imprisoned for doing to one another are nature's everyday performances"
             • Men are hanged for less than nature's everyday destruction
               • "Nature, red in tooth and claw"- Alfred Tennyson
             • "Anarchy and the reign of terror are overmatched in injustice, ruin, and death by a hurricane and a pestilence"
       • Killer animals and insects
         • "pass their existence in tormenting and devouring other animals"
           • Digger wasp
           • Whales
             • Don't eat whole whale
           • Cats
             • Play before eating
               • Cruel and pointless
   • Hume
     • What kind of designer can we infer?
       • No evidence of just one god
         • Work of several lesser Gods?
       • Anthropomorphic God?
         • Human like
       • Imperfections and suffering in the world
         • Cruel, impotent or non-moral God
           • "First rude attempt of an infant deity, then abandoned"
     • Problems with using analogy
       • They are weak methods of reasoning
         • Can only go so far
         • Similar effects don't necessarily imply similar causes
           • Choose the analogy, you choose the conclusion
         • Watch analogy doesn't relate to the universe
           • Universe is not mechanic
             • It is organic, growing and changing
               • More like a vegetable
     • Alternative theory
       • Epicurean hypothesis
         • Could have occurred by chance
           • Marbles example
             • Throw marbles until a pattern forms randomly
               • If not present during the throwing
                 • Would presume it was designed not random
                   • Can't know if the universe was designed or occurred by chance because we were not present
   • Darwinism
     • Natural selection
       • Evolving and adapting for purpose
         • Beneficial mutations
           • Pass on to offspring
             • Galapagos finches
             • Moths in the industrial revolution
           • Dawkins
             • Blind watch maker
               • No purpose in mind when evolving
                 • No vision or foresight
                   • A watchmaker in nature would be a blind watchmaker
                 • Natural selection is a unconscious and blind process

4. Supporting arguments

   • Hoyle
     • The probability of life on earth
       • "No greater than the chance that a hurricane would blow through a scrapyard and produce a Boeing 747"
   • Paley's responses
     • Broken watch: something doesn't have to work correctly to infer a design or designer
     • We didn't see the universe made: just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean it was not designed
     • Somethings dont have a purpose: even if we don't understand the purpose doesn't mean there is no purpose, there still is one
     • Might have occured by chance: unlikely universe would have occurred by chance due to all the purpose in it
   • Morowitz
     • The chance of a protein molecule occurring by chance is 1/10 x 236