The Teleological Argument

1
The Teleological Argument

• The idea that there is evidence of design in the
  universe which suggests a designer

2
The classical argument

• The universe has order, purpose and regularity
• The complexity of the universe shows evidence of
  design
• Such design implies a designer
• The designer of the universe is God

3
Two arguments for design

• Design Qua (relating to) Regularity
• The universe works to a particular order
• Planets rotate
• There are natural laws
• Design Qua Purpose
• Parts of the universe appear to fit for a purpose

4
Design Qua Regularity

• Thomas Aquinas The fifth way
• Non-intelligent things produce order
• They require an intelligent being to do this
• Now whatever lacks knowledge cannot move towards
  an end, unless it be directed by some being
  endowed with knowledge and intelligence
• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

5
Design Qua Purpose

• Response to 17th century mechanistic physics
• Isaac Newton (1642-1727) laws of gravity and
  motion
• Universe is like a machine with all the parts
  fitting and working together like clockwork
• Pierre Laplace (1749 1827) no need for God
• One day we will know everything through science

6
Design Qua Purpose

• William Paley (1743-1805)
• Responded to the new scientific ideas
• Book Natural Theology (1802)
• Compared a stone with a watch
• Would find that the parts of a watch had been put
  together for a purpose
• An intelligent person would infer a designer
• Similarly the parts of the universe infer a
  designer
• Similarly the parts of the body infer a designer

7
William Paley

• The first part of Paleys argumnet is Design Qua
  Purpose
• The second part of his argument is Design Qua
  Regularity
• Using Newtons discoveries, he points out that
  the rotation of the planets could not have come
  about by chance
• He concludes design by an external agent - God

8
David Hume (1711-1776)

• Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779)
• Why Conclude a beginning?
• Why conclude the creator to be the God of theism?
• Why not one or more lesser gods?
• Flaws in design suffering, death support the
  idea of an imperfect designer

9
David Hume (1711-1776)

• Humes arguments against design
• Humans have limited knowledge and experience
• Analogy of human design suggests many gods not
  one
• Analogy of universe to machine not good
• More like a vegetable that grows
• Epicurean Hypothesis points to chance

10
Epicurean Hypothesis

• At time of creation universe consisted of random
  particles
• Universe is eternal
• Inevitable that eventually an ordered state would
  develop
• Therefore the stability and order is the result
  of random movement of particles not a designer

11
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

• An empiricist
• knowledge grounded in experience
• God is described as
• All-powerful
• All-knowing
• All-loving
• There is suffering in the world
• An all-loving God would not allow suffering
• Therefore either God
• could not avoid suffering, did not know about it
  or does not care

12
Charles Darwin (1809 -1882)

• The Origins of Species (1859)
• Random variations within species result in
• Survival of those with best advantage (the
  fittest)
• Demise of those disadvantaged
• Therefore a process of natural selection rather
  than design by God

13
Putting it altogether

• Write bullet points that show how you would go
  about answering the following exam question
• Explain the main arguments for design as
  presented by Aquinas and Paley (33)
• Hume makes a more convincing case than Paley.
  Discuss (17)