Philosophy summary

• Teleological argument


  An inductive argument for the existence of God, from the Greek 'telos' meaning end or purpose. It suggests that each thing within the universe, and the universe itself, is moving towards an end/purpose.
• Two main categories of design

  • Qua purpose
  • Qua regularity
• Examples of qua purpose

  • The eye
  • The wings of a bird
  • The ability of an acorn to develop into a mighty oak
• Examples of qua regularity

  • The rotation of the planets
  • The predictability of laws of science (e.g. gravity)
• Aquinas' 5 ways


  Published in Summa Theologica, his fifth way is teleological - 'taken from the governance of the world'
• Aquinas' argument


  • Things that lack knowledge 'act for an end' (qua purpose)
  • They also act 'consistently' (qua regularity)
  • This is not 'fortuitously' (by chance) but 'designedly'
  • They must be directed towards an end by a being 'endowed with knowledge'
• Aquinas uses the analogy of the archer and the arrow. The archer is the intelligent being that directs all living things towards their end. The arrow 'lacks intelligence' and thus cannot by itself, reach its end.
• Aquinas concludes that things within the natural world must be directed to their 'end' by an intelligent being, God.
• Strengths of the teleological argument


  • Evidence of qua purpose: eye, wing, blood clotting
  • Evidence of qua regularity: orbit of planets, gravity
  • Supported by Paley's argument and intelligent design & irreducible complexity
• Weaknesses of the teleological argument


  • Darwin's theory of evolution, natural section was 'like confessing a murder' as God was not needed to explain the apparent design in the world
  • Hume's criticisms: analogy fails 'gang of Gods', 'organic' etc
  • Mill: Natural evil challenges the way Paley sees the world; if there is a designer, it is one who 'wills misery'
• William Paley

  The archdeacon of Carlisle, Paley put forward a very popular teleological argument in his book Natural Theology (1802)
• Two parts to Paley's argument

  • Design qua Purpose – the universe was designed to fulfil a purpose
  • Design qua Regularity – the universe behaves according to some order
• Design qua purpose


  The watch analogy explains design qua purpose
• Paley's examples of design qua purpose

  • The telescope and the eye
  • A bird's wings for flight
  • A fish's fins for swimming
• Paley argued that not only is everything clearly designed, but it designed for a purpose; and it is designed to an infinite degree of care.
• Design qua regularity


  Evidence for a creator God in the regularity of the universe, such as the rotation of the planets in the solar system and how they obey the same universal laws and hold their orbits in gravity
• Paley pointed to the rotation of the planets in the solar system, and how they obey the same universal laws and hold their orbits in gravity. This could not have come about by chance, so there must be a designing principle at work – God.
• Paley argued that if gravity was slightly stronger or weaker the universe would not exist today: "If the attracting forces had varied according to any direct law of distance… great destruction and confusion would have taken place." This suggests that there is an intelligent being that purposefully created the universe according to a well-constructed plan.
• Watch analogy


  Analogy of the watch: a watch found on the ground must have had a designer, just as the natural world must have had a designer (God)
• Paley's counter-arguments to objections


  • We have never seen a watch being made and are incapable of making one ourselves
  • The watch sometimes went wrong, (i.e. universe is imperfect- natural evil)
  • We could not understand the purpose of all the parts of the watch
  • The watch might be a naturally occurring object, i.e. universe could be the result of chance
  • There exists in things a "Principle of order" i.e. the universe might be following a set of in-built rules – the laws of nature
• Strengths of Paley's argument

  • There is clear evidence of design qua purpose within the universe
  • There is clear evidence of design qua regularity within the universe
  • Evolution cannot account for all human experience, e.g. altruism, morality, art
  • The existence of natural evil does not necessarily prove that there is no designer
  • The anthropic principle: the universe appears to be fine-tuned to allow for human life to exist
• Weaknesses of Paley's argument

  • Darwin's theory of evolution, natural section was 'like confessing a murder' as God was not needed to explain the apparent design in the world
  • Hume's criticisms: analogy fails 'gang of Gods', 'organic' etc
  • Mill: Natural evil challenges the way Paley sees the world; if there is a designer, it is one who 'wills misery'
• David Hume


  Challenged the teleological argument in his book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779)
• Hume's criticisms


  • We have no experience of world-making, so we cannot conclude that God has designed it
  • The analogy between a mechanical object and the universe is weak, as the universe is more organic than mechanical
  • Even if we accept the universe had a designer, this does not demonstrate it is the omnipotent, omnibenevolent, monotheistic, creator ex nihilo, Judeo-Christian God
• Hume argues the existence of natural evil challenges the idea of an omnibenevolent God, as the needless pain and suffering caused by natural evil suggests that the designer of the universe "is entirely indifferent".
• Hume argues the design argument leads to an infinite regress (a never-ending chain of prior causes). If there is a designer, surely we must ask who designed the designer and who designed that designer and so on infinitely.
• In The Origin of the Species (1859), Darwin showed that the apparent design in living things is attributable to evolution through natural selection rather than God.
• 3 key ideas of Darwin's theory of evolution

  • Species have evolved into their present forms
  • Genetic mutation (every offspring is slightly genetically different)
  • Natural selection (each living thing is in a competitive struggle for survival)
• Evidence in support of evolution

  • Fossil evidence supports an old earth
  • 'Missing link' fossils demonstrate transition stages between species
  • The speckled moth example provides evidence that species are changed by environmental changes
  • Genetic similarities between divergent species
• Ways evolution challenges the design argument

  • God is not needed, as apparent design is attributable to evolution
  • The process of evolution appears to be random & arbitrary, contradicting the idea of deliberate design
  • Challenges Christian belief in 'imago dei'
  • Challenged the view that the Bible is the infallible word of God
• Strengths of the evolutionary critique

  • Evolution remains one of the strongest criticisms of the teleological argument
  • There is a vast amount of scientific evidence to support evolution
  • Evolution can explain the existence of organized complexity without God
• Weaknesses of the evolutionary critique

  • Evolution does not explain where the very first forms of life came from
  • Some human behaviour is very hard to explain through evolution
  • Some Christians accept evolution as the mechanism through which God has designed life
• J.S. Mill


  Argued against the existence of an omni-benevolent designer, claiming the evidence of natural evil suggests 'Either there is no God or there exists an incompetent or immoral God' or if there is a God, 'wills misery'
• Mill challenges the view of nature found within the design argument – as a well-designed, purposeful and beautiful creation. Mill's view of nature is a world of violence and suffering, 'red in tooth and claw'.
• Strengths of Mill's critique

  • Hume and Darwin could be used to support his point
  • Mill appears to provide a legitimate challenge to the Judeo-Christian God
• Weaknesses of Mill's critique


  • Paley would reject Mill's view of nature and say that it is a 'happy' world which teems with 'delighted existence'
  • Paley anticipated the challenge of natural evil and argued the design does not have to be perfect in order for us to know there was a designer
• Nature


  Viewed within the design argument as a well-designed, purposeful and beautiful creation
• Mill's view of nature

  A world of violence and suffering, 'red in tooth and claw'
• Mill does not see that the world is set up for the good of humans or any other creatures
• Cosmological argument


  An inductive and a posteriori argument that claims the universe itself must have a cause, and this cause is God