The Teleological Argument

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The Teleological Argument

Advantages

  • The design argument uses analogies which are familiar to everyone, to make it both simple and persausive
  • It is argued that the amount of chance/good luck that would be required to put together a universe without a designer is so great that it couldn't have happened
  • Design is easy to see if you make humankind's existence the centre, and purpose, of the universe
  • It makes sense that God designed the universe
  • The presence of order,which is a mark of design, infers the existence of God
  • The argument receives support from some modern philosophers that point out there is more to life than mere existence. Human beings appreciate aesthetic activities such as music and art which are not necessary for mere survival so could not have arisen from natural selection
  • Even minor changes to the law of physics would result in a universe that did not even contain matter
  • All life is so similar that it must have a common creator

Disadvantages

  • David Hume is a leading critic of the design argument. He pointed out that alongside the beauty,design and order of the universe there was ugliness,suffering and evil
  • The universe is a living organism which changes and develops rather than a machine (a watch)
  • Hume said that when there is a huge number of possibilities, only those which actually work will survive. What appears as the work of an intelligent designer may in fact be one surviving example of many variations. It survived because it worked
  • Even if we believe that God is the great designer of the universe how do we know that God is still with us?
  • Just because the universe looks designed, doesn't mean that it is designed. The presence of natural disasters suggest that the design of the universe is not as perfect as God would have made it

Evaluation

The teleological argument makes sense. The universe shows design and purpose. It could not have all came about by chance. Everything has a purpose and is perfect for that purpose. The chances that it was all by chance are so slim but even although the universe seems designed it hasn't been perfectly designed as there are things such a natural disasters. This suggest that maybe it wasn't designed by 'God' as he would have created a perfect design with no natural disasters.

Comments

mike williskins

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I've see better, this version is not proper and inaccurate  

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