Teleological Argument
a) Explain key ideas in the Design Argument for the existence of God.
(30 Marks)
b) Assess the view that science has made the Design Argument a failure.
(15 Marks)
“With such signs of forethought in the design of living creature, can you doubt they are the work of choice or design?” (Socrates) The Design argument looks at the order and purpose, or telos, in the world and states that it implies that there must be a designer who made the world ‘just right’ for human existence. Religious believers go on to state that this designer is God. The argument states that if one uses one’s senses to look at order, such as gravity and the motion of the planets, which exists in the world, it is likely that one will accept that there is a designer God who created the world and gave it this order. Thus, the argument is both a posteriori, based on experience, and inductive, containing a conclusion that we are likely to accept if we believe the premises to be true. Although the argument was one of Aquinas’ five ‘ways’ in his book, Summa Theologica, the most famous version of the Argument from Design was put forward by William Paley in his book Natural Theology (1802), and therefore, this essay will focus mainly on Paley’s version of the argument.
The most popular way to argue for the existence of God in Paley’s day was by use of an anaology. Therefore, in Natural Theology, we see Paley comparing the world to a watch in order to prove that an intelligent designer God created the world. Paley states that if one were crossing a heath and saw a stone, one would not question its existence, as it is just a stone which could have been there forever. However, if one came across a watch, one would be able to see that all of the cogs and hands worked together intricately for the purpose of telling the time. This would, Paley argues, lead one to believe that the watch must have been carefully put together by a human watchmaker.
Paley compares the man-made watch to the human eye
(30 Marks)
b) Assess the view that science has made the Design Argument a failure.
(15 Marks)
“With such signs of forethought in the design of living creature, can you doubt they are the work of choice or design?” (Socrates) The Design argument looks at the order and purpose, or telos, in the world and states that it implies that there must be a designer who made the world ‘just right’ for human existence. Religious believers go on to state that this designer is God. The argument states that if one uses one’s senses to look at order, such as gravity and the motion of the planets, which exists in the world, it is likely that one will accept that there is a designer God who created the world and gave it this order. Thus, the argument is both a posteriori, based on experience, and inductive, containing a conclusion that we are likely to accept if we believe the premises to be true. Although the argument was one of Aquinas’ five ‘ways’ in his book, Summa Theologica, the most famous version of the Argument from Design was put forward by William Paley in his book Natural Theology (1802), and therefore, this essay will focus mainly on Paley’s version of the argument.
The most popular way to argue for the existence of God in Paley’s day was by use of an anaology. Therefore, in Natural Theology, we see Paley comparing the world to a watch in order to prove that an intelligent designer God created the world. Paley states that if one were crossing a heath and saw a stone, one would not question its existence, as it is just a stone which could have been there forever. However, if one came across a watch, one would be able to see that all of the cogs and hands worked together intricately for the purpose of telling the time. This would, Paley argues, lead one to believe that the watch must have been carefully put together by a human watchmaker.
Paley compares the man-made watch to the human eye