Similarly, William Paley, strongly believed that the observation of the intricate complexity of the universe concludes that there must be a creator. Paley believed that this creator was God. In ‘Natural Theology’, he used the analogy of the watch to his ideas. He explained that if you came across an intricately designed watch, you could conclude that watch was not made by chance and was designed with purpose and placed there. For Paley, the different parts of watch work perfectly together to fulfil a purpose.
Aquinas considered that by using our reason to reflect on our human nature we could discover our specific end purpose. Aquinas used the ideas of Aristotle and the Stoics as an underpinning for Natural Law saying- human beings have an essential rational nature given by God in order for us to live and flourish. Aristotle said even without knowledge of god, reason can discover the laws that lead to human flourishing. The Stoics said Natural Laws are universal and unchangeable and should be used to judge of particular societies. We use this is help us choose the right moral action is situations.
Why is “necessity” something that has to be considered, when considering the world’s construction and its nature (how it works or behaves)? “For this world came into being from a mixture of necessity and intelligence.” Necessity led most of the things in the universe to the best outcome because intelligence influenced it to do so. 4. What was the model for the creation of the world—the template used? Why is the physical (sensible) world inferior to the model it was based upon?
Both a birds’ wings and a fishes’ gills are visible to everybody, and so Paley was able to have people understand his point, and he could get it across easily. Paley also said that in nature we can see qua regularity, which Thomas Aquinas used empirical evidence to explain in the alignment of the planets. He said that the planets could not have ordered themselves, and that they were not in the order they are by chance, so they must have been put in such a way by an external being; he suggested that this being was God. Aquinas’ theory is somewhat backed by science, for if the Earth was ‘X’ amount of miles closer or further away from the Sun it would be uninhabitable. Another strength of the argument is the use of analogies, which make the argument easier to understand.
The design argument outlines that the world has been designed, and therefore requires a designer. This designer, has to have been God because he is the only being that has the power and will to do so. This argument is a posteriori because it bases it’s argument on observations within the Universe. It is also an inductive proof because it has more than one possible conclusion. There are a few ideas that support the idea of the world being designed, one of them being Aquinas’s Fifth Way.
The most famous one was written by William Paley (1743-1805). He claimed that the complexity and efficiency of natural objects such as the eye, which is very complex and has a very important function, is evidence that God must have designed it. Paley says that just by looking at a watch we already know, subconsciously, that a watchmaker designed it. So when looking at the eye, why cannot we agree a maker designed it? This argument relies on the idea that a deigned object, a watch in our case, is very similar to the eye, which is a natural object.
The Free Will Defense In this essay I will talk about why the free will defense is a logical and reasonable solution to the problem of evil. I will first define what the problem of evil is, and then I will define and explain why the free will defense works to solve the problem. I will also bring up and support all criticisms against the free will defense. I will continue by responding to those criticisms, and then conclude by summing up my main ideas. The strongest criticism to the free will defense is that God, being an all-powerful being, should be able to create free agents who make only good choices, freely.
This is translated as “happiness” however; it is more the idea of thriving and flourishing personally and within society. Aristotle also said that reason, which he says we should us in order to comply with natural law, is not just about knowing how to think and understand but how to act. Thomas Aquinas was also a Greek philosopher. He used Aristotle and the stoic’s ideas about natural law and incorporated those with his own; he approached the natural law theory with more of a Christian view. It is important to note that Aquinas looked up to and was influenced heavily by Aristotle.
(a) Describe the origins and features of the natural law theory Natural law is a deontological ethical theory which considers something to be moral if it fulfils God’s plan for creation. Thomas Aquinas discussed, that because every human is created by God, then our purpose is to live life according to God’s plan for us. Natural law was fully developed by Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century, although Vardy and Grosch comment, “the natural law approach to morality has a long history” as the concept originated long before the time of Aquinas. The concept of natural law can be traced back to the time of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He explained that everything has a purpose – “a good knife is one that cuts well, that is what it is designed to do”.
Existence is a part of perfection. While the ontological argument can be approached without the use of consciousness or awareness, cosmological and teleological arguments require a closer focus on the cause and the design of the universe. In earlier years Plato, then Aristotle stressed the cosmological argument as cause and motion, whereas Thomas Aquinas’ concept focused on life having a cause or a starting point. According to his premise the universe is a series of causes and the first cause would be what everyone understands to be God. This concept leads to other debates that mock the well-known adage “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg”.