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! design argument ! - Coggle Diagram
! design argument !
2) William Paley
uses an analogy of the watch to argue that just as the watch must have a designer, so too must the world
the world is like this machine: its ordered, purposeful, intricate, complex & functional
'Design qua Purpose'
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the watch is complex & order, & put together for a total purpose - so there must be a designer
the world is complex & ordered, each induvial has a purpose, not necessarily a total purpose (we are inside the world so we cant know the purpose - we need an Archimedean perspective) - so likely world has a total purpose, & therefore likely a world designer = God
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put forwards a very popular theological theological argument, in his book Natural Theology
like causes, like effects
strengths of the DA
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supported by modern science, e.g. hydrological cycle, food chains, ecosystems etc. (Swinburne - evolution)
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it has the strength of analogous arguments, it uses comparisons, e.g. watch, & order to clarify our understanding of the argument
gives meaning & purpose & demands respect for natural world, encourages study if nature - Kant
it helps to bridge the gap between faith & science - the 2 are complimentary (goldilocks enigma). Polkinghorne - God is the great conductor of nature
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1) St Thomas Aquinas
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just as an arrow must be directed to its target by a higher being, so too is all of nature directed to its purpose by God
in order for non-intelligent matt4er to behave in a way that is beneficial, there needs to be an intelligent power to bring this about - God
Aquinas argues "Design Qua Regularity" = design through regular, ordered patterns
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3) F.R Tennant
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evolution is part of Gods plan & shows his intelligence, it strengthens the design argument
The Anthropic Argument
Unlikely
too unlikely that the world is here by chance, "the world isn't compatible with a single throw of the dice" (θ)God is the best explanation of the Worlds existence & humanity
Man
the brute laws of nature couldn't of led to mans creation as spirituality & morality aware creatures. We can rise above our biological nature (& evolutionary laws), this implies that God has designed us
Rationality
the world is comprehensible to humans, its not chaotic. A rational mind must have designed it, its also rational to conclude that God is the designer
The Aesthetic Argument
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sunsets, art, poetry have no evolutionary benefit
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the universe possesses natural beauty, beyond that which is necessary
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Critics of the DA
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3) John Stewart Mill
objected to the design arg cause of the PoE and suffering, if God was the designer his power must be very limited cause he couldn't prevent the suffering caused by the forces of nature
religious people believe in an omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent God, but this cannot be reconciled with the suffering caused by the forces of nature
criticism - Deism - God as the 'cosmic clock maker', who set the world in motion & leaves it to its own devices (imperfection is our own fault)
4) Kant
as humans we perceive the universe as ordered & therfore designed. However what we consider to be order & design could actually be chaos. We are limited by our human minds & are often mistaken by our surrounding
5) Ayer
DA can only suggest a designer, it cannot prove one, therefore its a meaningless argument. We cannot say what the world would be like without design & order (as it is all we know), so it is meaningless to say its designed as how would we know
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Weaknesses of the DA
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inductive args aren't very compelling or convincing cause if the DA was truly a good, strong theory, it would be a deductive arg & therfore definitely true.
just cause elements of science & nature are ordered doesn't automatically mean it was God's doing, they can be explained by further science
Swinburne's arg doesn't make sense with genesis, where it says everything was made its final form, this doesn't fit with evolution
the analogies used are too different to their subject of the universe as a whole, a watch is not comparable to nature & neither is a watch maker to God - Hume
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an inductive argument
conclusion is likely, but not absolutely certain
A posteriori argument
based on observable, empirical, sense data
