...Explain Paley’s Teleological argument (25) According to the argument from design, or teleological argument, the design or order found in the universe provides evidence for the existence of an intelligent designer (or orderer) usually identified as God. A classic version of this argument appears in William Paley's 1802 Natural Theology, where Paley compares the complexity of living things to the inferior complexity of a watch that we deduce to be designed by an intelligent being. Just as a watch could not exist without a watchmaker, Paley argued, living things could not exist without an intelligent designer. The teleological or design argument is a derivative of the Greek word Telos which means end, goal or purpose. It is this end or purpose that Paley is looking for that suggests the existence of a divine creator. Aquinas’ fifth way ‘From the governance of things’ or design qua regularity argument (qua meaning through or pertaining to) foregrounding the argument for design, observed the universe and saw that everything in the universe appeared to be working in some sort of order. In particular he noticed that ‘natural bodies’ behaved in a regular way. Here Aquinas addresses flowers or insects - One could use the example of a daffodil that flowers in spring time. He then goes on to evaluate the fact that these natural bodies ‘lack intelligence’ - they are not conscious or sentient beings of their own movement, yet even so they appear to move or act in regular fashion - as...
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...The design argument, also known as the teleological argument, in its simplest form could be defined as an ideology that argues that all this order and complexity that exists in this world has a creator or a intelligent being with a ‘rational mind’ behind it, without whom none of this would be possible. This creator is thought to be God. As I mentioned earlier, this argument is also known as the teleological argument alluding to the greek word "telos," which translates to “goal” or “purpose. (IEP)” The way Paley sees it is that the universe in a way works similar to a watch in that it displays design and consistency. As long as card indicators are present such as complexity and function, there is a designer behind it; God. It’s quite evident...
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...110 Heter Lecture Two: The Argument from Design by Paley [1] Overview. William Paley argued that the universe is so complex that it must have been designed by a higher power. Paley compares the natural universe to a watch. The complexity of the watch proves that it must have been designed. Such a meticulous machine could not have arise by chance. Since the natural universe is far more complex than a watch (think of a human heart), the natural universe must have a designer that is very powerful. This designer must be all powerful; thus the designer must be God. Paley’s argument has been revived in the past five years under the name of “Intelligent Design.” The Intelligent Design Argument is exactly the same as Paley’s argument, with only one exception. The Intelligent Design Argument concludes that “a higher power of some sort, that we might call an ‘intelligent designer’ must exist.” But the argument does not call the ‘intelligent designer’ God. [2] Note on terms: “Teleological.” The Argument from Design has two different names. The argument is also called the “Teleological Argument.” The word “teleological” comes from the Greek word “telos” which means “end” or “purpose.” Paley believes that the universe has a purpose (telos) just like a watch has a purpose (to tell time). For example, the purpose of a human heart is to pump blood. [3] The Argument from Design Premise 1.If an object has a design then it must have a designer. (A watch...
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... Religion seems to bridge the gap without problem, rapidly spreading from one place to another in a matter of centuries, despite there being a cultural and language barrier. What makes religion so incredibly effective? Why is it that the concept has existed for literally as long as humanity has existed? What is the relationship between religion and culture? Are they two distinct entities, or are they two different manifestations of the same phenomenon? In order to answer these questions, first, a mutual platform must be developed and agreed upon, which will serve as the basis for development and proposal of arguments. First and foremost, this paper is a rational inquiry about the nature of religion, and as such this paper will establish arguments and analyze religion through the lens of rationality and science. This is not a paper about causality. The arguments developed here are built on the foundations of Objectivism, scientific realism, empirical analysis and strict adherence to logic. Furthermore, religion has to be rigorously defined. Such a definition, however, is difficult to establish. Religion, as stated above, is a global phenomenon that is as old, even older still, than written history. And so establishing a general definition for a phenomenon that has such a wide range of variety is challenging. Nonetheless, henceforth, religion shall be defined as any ideology that proposes supernatural causes as...
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...The world appears designed so god exists Discuss This is the start of a standard design argument most such arguments will start by pointing out a distinct part of the world that has a look of design to it and from there reason that the only such being capable of a feat of universal engineering would be God. This is in most instances a reasonable proposition if you are inclined to believe in God. There are a number of philosophers with such propositions for instance Paley’s argument and watch, and the propositions of both Tennant and Swinburne. Paley’s argument and watch are an argument as design with reference to purpose. This means that there is obvious designed within the world and that design has a purpose which pre supposes a maker and as such there must be a God. This is shown in the thought experiment of the watch if you were to be walking around in the park or forest and you were to come across a watch the watch would not fit in with its surroundings it must have been created. This logic may be applied to the world whilst the basis of the world is slightly different in its appearance being made of organic rather than non-organic materials however still has a high level of complexity that could in some way insinuate the existence of creator due to its complexity. Like the watch the earth has many interlocking pieces that work together in a way that is incredibly unlikely...
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...McCloskey H.J. McCloskey attempted to contradict the arguments proving Gods existence used by theists in the article “On Being an Atheist”. Although there is no sufficient proof in the cosmological argument of their being a perfect creator, it does however provide evidence of a singular being. The evidence of an almighty creator is provided by the simple element of complex design. However, though this almighty creator allows the existence of evil in the world, He was not the one to create it, and, as such, has a purpose behind its existence. The existence of God can be logically concluded, contrary to McCloskey’s beliefs, using the philosophical inquiry. McCloskey refers to the cosmological, teleological, and design arguments throughout his article, and discuss how theists use them to prove the existence of God. McCloskey may, perhaps, believe that these arguments are unsuccessful because his different beliefs allow his approach to be different. Contrary to proof, these aspects of cosmological, teleological, and design are more accurately represented when used as evidence or as simply arguments. Dr. Mark Foreman describes proof, in his presentation of “Approaching the Questions of God’s Existence”, as something that involves a characteristic of complete certainty. As McCloskey refers to the many arguments as “proof” he implies that the arguments are thought to be facts of absolute truth. If this were true, than these arguments would have to be accepted and believed by all individuals...
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...is the Teleological argument for the existence of God? Subscribe to our Question of the Week: Teleological argument Question: "What is the Teleological argument for the existence of God?" Answer: The word teleology comes from telos, which means "purpose" or "goal." The idea is that it takes a "purposer" to have purpose, and so, where we see things obviously intended for a purpose, we can assume that those things were made for a reason. In other words, a design implies a designer. We instinctively make these connections all the time. The difference between the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore is obvious—one is designed, one is not. The Grand Canyon was clearly formed by non-rational, natural processes, whereas Mount Rushmore was clearly created by an intelligent being—a designer. When we are walking on a beach and find a wristwatch, we do not assume that time and random chance produced the watch from blowing sand. Why? Because it has the clear marks of design—it has a purpose, it conveys information, it is specifically complex, etc. In no scientific field is design considered to be spontaneous; it always implies a designer, and the greater the design, the greater the designer. Thus, taking the assumptions of science, the universe would require a designer beyond itself (i.e., a supernatural designer). The teleological argument applies this principle to the whole universe. If designs imply a designer, and the universe shows marks of design, then the universe...
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...The design argument is also known as the teleological argument. Telos means goal, aim or purpose. The argument looks at the idea of purpose and order within the universe to argue for the existence of God. The argument is an a posteriori, inductive, synthetic argument. A posteriori arguments have statements that rely on proof from the external evidence. In inductive arguments the argument is only brought in at the conclusion. Aquinas's 5th way in the cosmological argument as it argues for the existence of God, with regards to the evidence of purpose in nature. Aquinas stated that everything works together in a particular order despite the fact that inanimate objects have no mind or rational powers to achieve this. He explained his point by using the example of an arrow, saying that for an arrow to reach its destination it must be directed first of all by the archer. In the same way ‘natural bodies’ seem to act in a regular fashion to reach a specific purpose. As they, like the arrow, are not able to direct themselves, there must be a first cause. This first cause is what Aquinas considered to be God. Another philosopher that postulated a teleological argument is Paley. Paley put forward his argument for the existence of God during the period of enlightenment (where science was being used to prove evolution). Paley explained his theory using an analogy of the watch, but drawing comparisons between features of the watch and of the universe. He stated that if a man was walking...
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...William Paley’s takes on the design argument in an analogy form which in its most basic form states if a watch is complex then it must have a maker if we compare to a human eye which is more complex then it proves that an intelligent creator thus exist. His argument is logically persuasive thought Natural theology. As for David Hume’s, “Dialogues concerning Natural Religion,” contra argument he finds various flaws in Paley’s argument.(need to explain) What I established after reading these two arguments is that it is difficult to come to a conclusion about the existence of god. Paley’s and Hume’s arguments are both inductive arguments discussing the existence of an intelligent creator, god, a topic that can never be proven to be true and absolute....
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...The teleological argument is one of the five arguments for the existence of god. It attempts to prove gods existence by using our experience of the world or universe around us. This makes it a posterior in nature. Teleological arguments can essentially be broken down into two main types pre Darwinian and post Darwinian. We shall focus on pre Darwinian as these are the most traditional of these two arguments. Further sub division of teleological arguments can be identified in the guise of design qua regularity and design qua purpose. It is within these areas that we the find the thinking of two philosophers Aquinas(13thC) and paley (19C). The teleological design argument gets its name from the Greek word telos which mean end, goal or purpose it is this end or purpose that both Aquinas and paley are looking for that will suggest the existence of a divine creator. We will begin by outlining Aquinas fifth way from the governance of things or the design qua regularity argument. Aquinas observed the universe and concluded that everything in it must be working in some kind of order. In particular he noticed that natural bodies (flowers or insects) behaved in a regular way. For example a daffodil flowers every spring time he then goes on to notice the fact that these natural bodies lack intelligence, by this he means they are not conscious of there own movement. A daffodil does not know that it is spring time but flowers unconsciously. He concludes that as they lack the intelligence...
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...and all that is within it. Theists see the world full of design and order and believe it came about through an intelligent creator. Atheists do not believe in God because they have not seen clear proof that he exists (McCloskey, 1968). In his article “On Being an Atheist”, H. J. Mccloskey explains why he believes that God does not exist. The theist believes that an intelligent creator is the best explanation for all that we experience in the universe. Personal experience leads many to begin to think about God. Some wonder about the purpose of their life; while others might be struggling reasons for pain and suffering. It helps to believe that our pain and suffering are for some ultimate purpose and that eventually some good can come from it. Faith in God can be arrived at intelligently through reason. We may not be able to prove that God exists but there is convincing evidence to believe he does. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions about what we believe and why we believe it. Our answers will help to strengthen our own faith and give others something to think about. If something is worth believing, it is worth defending. The cosmological argument concludes that everything in the universe depends on something else for its existence. McCloskey in “On Being an Atheist” concedes that there is a power behind the universe. He however, does not see this power as a necessary being. All we can infer from the causal argument is the existence of a cause commensurate with the effect...
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...The Argument for Design Background • Also known as teleological argument from Greek ‘telos’ meaning ‘goal or purpose’ • A posteriori – the DA claims there is evidence of design in the world and so relies on external empirical evidence for its proof. • Inductive argument. • Arguments for design go back at least as far as the Greek philosopher Plato [428-347 B.C.] • Some distinguish between ‘qua regularity’ and ‘qua purpose’, meaning that some DA’s argue on the basis of there being regularity in the Universe whilst others claim there is evidence of the Universe being designed for a purpose. • Three main types of argument are: From order [regularity] From beauty Anthropic [purpose] William Paley [1743-1805] in Natural Theology: Evidences of The Existence and Attributes of the Deity [1805] • Makes use of analogy and likens the complexity of a watch to the complexity of the Universe. Since a watch is clearly designed, so is the Universe [qua regularity]. Also, the human eye is too complex to have arisen by chance so must be designed for some purpose [qua purpose] • Hume [1711-1776] in Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding put forward a number of criticisms of the DA before Paley published his work: • Design and order could be the result of chance [the Epicurean hypothesis] • Hume believed the analogy on which the DA is based is unsound...
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...f, for argument sake, McCloskey did in fact want examples of indisputable design and purpose and would be willing to accept them as such, one could just look at the order of life. Animals act intuitively in feeding and reproduction; the human anatomy contains a heart that pumps blood throughout the body to sustain life. Or, better yet, what about DNA or RNA? DNA and RNA are absolutely vital to the life of a human, and existence without DNA is impossible. However, atheists and those who deny the existence of design and purpose, cannot explain where DNA/RNA came from. The transcription of DNA to RNA is something that scientists admit cannot be numerically computed because of its complexity.[8] Would the existence, functioning, and transcription of DNA to RNA provide a basis for genuine indisputable design and purpose for McCloskey? If not, then what does? This is the problem with stating the need for genuine indisputable examples of design and purpose because who is the judge or standard of what is indisputable? McCloskey may look at the complexities of DNA to RNA and the order of life as natural progression of evolution. In fact, McCloskey implies that evolution displaces the need for a designer. I, however, disagree. One thing that evolution does is offers an explanation contrary to intelligent design regarding the scientific observations of the natural order of life. While evolution provides the scientific explanation of natural order, it does not explain the creation or ultimate...
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...Name: Zamora, Cherry Lynn A. Section: N8 PRE-FINAL PAPER RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 1. Feeling of Absolute dependence by Schleirmacher * What I understand in Schleirmacher’s feeling of Absolute dependence is it’s our God-consciousness that arises from self-consciousness for being piety. It is our “utang na loob”, in this case it is a consciousness of the one to whom we are dependent—God. We have always this feeling of dependency that we owe our life to God. It is when we recognize the presence of God in ourselves, it also that start for us feel and practice religious experience. Like for example, whenever I achieve an accomplishment or a goal, I always make sure that I will go to church and thanked God for it. I have this feeling that I should thank Him for guiding me and helping me to achieve such success. It shows that i am self-conscious about the presence of God to me. 2. Mysterious Tremendum et Fascinans by Rudolf Otto * The Mysterious Tremendum et Fascinan by Otto is his concept of Numinous or numen or divine. It is composed of three parts, such as: Mysterious/Mysterium is the experience of wholly other, or the blank wonder. Next is the Tremendum which is the awefulness-it is the terror or unapproachability “wrath of God”, overpoweringness as the sense of one’s own nothingness in contrast to its power, the creature-feeling or the sense of dependence, and energy, the vitality and will which explain that the world is full of energy because of God. And...
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...Philosophy essay – the teleological argument Question A - What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the teleological argument, for the existence of god? The teleological argument is a posteriori, this means that it is able to support its argument based of the empirical evidence that we can see around us. It states that we can easily observe that there is order and complexity in the universe around us, such as the changing of seasons or the human eye, therefore as things that have order and complexity have designers such as a watch or a computer the world must too have a designer as it is infinitely more complex than many human designs that have designers. This means that the universe must too have a designer (God), yet there are many strengths and weaknesses to this argument. On the one hand this could be perceived as a strong argument for the existence of god as it is backed up by inductive reasoning, meaning that the whole argument is started by something that we can observe, this means that it is difficult to deny that there is order and complexity within our universe. This argument has been backed up by sir Thomas Aquinas in his book ‘summa theologica’ when he talks about qua purpose and qua regularity. Qua purpose can prove the existence of god by looking at things within nature and realizing that everything has a purpose, for example there are species of bird that’s life solely depends on the fruit from a single species of tree, yet the tree depends on the...
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