Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection gives us an alternative way to explain the complex functionality that leads to Paley thinking that a designer has left his mark on the universe. However, the anthropic principle helps prove God’s existence. The Big Bang theory has strengthened the case for God, as has the theory of evolution. In fact when we consider all the physical conditions that the universe had to possess for humans to evolve then there seems to be a conspiracy to fix the
J. Ayer claimed that to speak of a designed universe is meaningless. Unless we could say what the world would have been like without a designer, we cannot reach the conclusion that this world is designed. Who establishes that there is beneficial order in the universe? How do we argue from that to the conclusion that god has designed it? Swinburne counted this by claiming that the order in the universe does require an explanation.
Without God, there can be no absolutes or enforced morality. Furthermore, the cosmological argument asserts that because this universe has a beginning, it must have been created by something greater. Finally, when looking at the universe, we are forced to logically conclude that a God was behind the creation due to the deliberate way in which it is obviously set up in order to sustain human life. These principles show that Atheism, while given the appearance of science and discovery, fails to address the major questions that the theology of a creator God more than
William Paley, "The Teleological Argument" (Natural Theology) William Paley in his Natural Theology argues for the existence of God based on the complex design of the universe. A question that has betroubled all philosophers. First this being a teleological argument one must explore the meaning of such an argument. A teleological argument is the argument for the existence of God from the evidence of order, and hence designs, in nature . As Paley explains, just as the function and complexity of a watch implies a watchmaker, so likewise the function and complexity of the universe implies the existence of a universe-maker.
Thomas Aquinas popularized the cosmological argument, which says that every being that exists in the world is contingent, or dependent. In order to bring anything into being, there must have been at least one noncontingent, or independent, being, and this being is what we refer to as God. The ontological argument states that God is the greatest conceivable being. Because existing is a better quality than not existing, God must exist. The final argument, the teleological argument, states that nature is a very complex system whose parts work together to perform a certain function.
Evans and Manis define the Cosmological argument as using cosmos and the universe to infer the existence of God ( Evans and Manis, pg. 67). This argument is often times known as the “first cause argument” because they imply that God must have existed or caused the universe to exist ( Evans and Manis, pg.67). McCloskey argues that the cosmological argument is one that suggests an argument for the world as we know it today (McCloskey, pg.63). McCloskey states that one of the major problems is believing in an uncaused first cause.
AO1: Give an account of the fundamental ideas of the Design Argument for the existence of God. Target: To improve my AO1 essay I should link two or more scholar through each paragraph and make the conclusion a short summary. The Argument of Design aims to prove God’s existence through a posteriori premise, that the universe is too complex to just came into existence by chance and therefore it has to be designed by God. All of its scholars using inductive reasoning, Aquinas and Paley aim to prove the existence of God through Analogy and Swinburne, Tennant and Stannard using Probabilities. Theist Stannard and Paley both start their arguments with the premise, that the universe has complex features, but Stannard proceed further the idea, that the universe is too complex to just happen by coincidence.
The cosmological argument has several different forms and seeks to prove the existence of an external necessary being which caused the universe to come into existence. This external agent according to the cosmological argument is God. It is an a posterior argument meaning it is based on our experience of the universe around us. Plato and Aristotle were the first to postulate views on the idea that the universe could not exist without a mover. They both argued that the fact of motion needs a prior agency to motivate it and this mover itself would not need a further mover itself as it would be a prime mover, a necessary being.
Explain Paley’s Teleological Argument (AO1 25marks) Firstly, Telos is the Greek word for end or result of some course of action. Therefore, The Teleological Argument looks to demonstrate the existence of God by looking at the universe and trying to demonstrate that is has been designed for some reason or purpose. Evidence of design within the universe leads to the question, if the universe has been designed, who or what designed it? Furthermore, The Teleological Argument aims to demonstrate that the designer of the universe is God. The Teleological Argument is also an example of an a posteriori argument which means that it’s a synthetic argument that reaches conclusions based on evidence observed.
The big bang theory is the belief which describes the beginning of the universe as a large explosion that sent pieces of matter flying everywhere, which is ridiculously unlikely to have occurred naturally, so this argument says that a Creator had intended it to happen, or something similar to the big bang. The argument continues to say that the universe is so fine-tuned for human life to exist, and that there was an intelligent design behind the creation of the universe, making it highly unlikely for an event to naturally occur to create the universe. This argument is said to give proof that the Creators purpose in creating the universe was to also create life to go along with it. This argument is yet again, invalid. It is true that the chances of the big bang theory occurring are extremely miniscule, but it is still possible for it to