Telelogical

• Teleological Argument


  Also known as the Design Argument, proposes that everything has a purpose
• Watchmaker analogy by William Paley: A man is walking and he finds a rock. He credits the rock's existence to nature. He continues walking and stumbles across a watch, he decides the watch's purpose is to measure time. Due to how complex the watch is he concludes the watch has to have a watchmaker. If we agree the watch has a watchmaker since it is so complex and then think about the universe and how it is also complex. If the watch has to have a watchmaker then the universe needs one. That universemaker must be God.
• Teleological/Design Argument


  • Analogy is easy to understand/accessible to everybody
  • Uses familiar objects to explain the analogy
  • Humankind likes explanations, this provides that
  • It's a persuasive argument
• Assumes that 'God' is the designer
• Complexity doesn't automatically require design
• Natural processes, like evolution, can explain the complexity and order we see in the natural world without the need for a designer
• If nature is designed, why would it include destructive forces that cause harm and suffering? Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, raises questions about the existence of an all-powerful and benevolent creator
• The main counterargument is natural selection evolution
• The theory of evolution goes against religious teachings because it challenges the teleological argument
• Evolution fits with the universe being complex
• According to the bible humans were created on the 6th day not over a period of a million years
• God could have used evolution as part of his creation
• Genesis theory is old and not to be taken literally
• David Hume states if the world really was designed and created by God there would not be such disorder and chaos
• There are parts of the world that are inhabitable, how is this intelligent design?
• He said a flawed world equals a flawed creator. If God created all creatures and the perfect environments for them then how does evidence that creatures adapted to their environment fit?
• This must mean the universe is not designed or if it was the creator is not omnipotent or omnibenevolent
• Kant states the order and complexity we see in the world could be human perception
• There might not be any order and complexity, it's just what we impose on the world
• We see what we want to see, we see a designer because we want to see a designer