The Argument
The Design Argument
| Teleological: Comes from the Greek telos, end or goal. Interpreted as meaning that things don’t develop by chance but has a purpose. | Examples of aposreriori and induction | |
| A posteriori based on experience of the world and not rationally deduced like a priori ideas. | Horses eat hay. Kebabs tastes ‘nice’ Snow is white. | |
| Inductive: Move from particular observations to a general conclusion. | The above are inductive and only probable |
Arguments From Analogy
- An analogy compares one thing to another
- William Paley uses the watch analogy
- We might find a rock and not expect it to be designed but if we found a watch we could be sure someone had thought it out and then had it manufactured
- So the universe must have been designed towards a similar purpose
- It is too complex and efficient not to have been thought out in advance
Arguments To The Best Explanation
- The universe has purpose and order
- A supernatural designer is the best explanation
- Other explanations are inadequate
- The eye is often used as an example. Surely it is too complex to have arisen by chance?
- Even the theory of evolution may not be powerful enough to account for it!
See Also
Some religious thinkers argue that God is the best way to make sense of the world. This is called...
Kant compared the universe to a vegetable? False: Hume compared the universe to a vegetable. Irenaeus...
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Michael Behe, a modern scientist, suggests that evolution does not provide a full account of life. ...
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