Explain Hume’s criticisms of the teleological argument (25 marks) Hume criticised the teleological argument in plenty of ways as he believed that the argument was deeply flawed. His first point criticised Paley’s analogy of the watch. The first part of the analogy claimed that if you found a rock while walking through a heath‚ you would not think anything of it. However‚ if you had seen a watch you would examine it and find that it had moving parts that demonstrate that the watch has a purpose
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The teleological argument as put forward by St. Thomas Aquinas attempts to prove the existence of God by use of empirical evidence. Aquinas attempts this through three ways. The first way Aquinas attempts to prove the existence of God is through cause and effect. Every action or outcome must have a previous action that allowed that action or outcome to come about. This previous action must have been set in motion by another action. St. Thomas reasons that this infers an infinite chain of cause
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How convincing is the Kalam argument as proof of the existence of Allah The first premise is relatively uncontroversial‚ and is rooted in the metaphysical principle that out of nothing‚ nothing comes. The denial of the first premise‚ although strictly logically possible‚ is metaphysically unactualizable. By definition‚ nothing has no potentialities. Thus‚ it is impossible for something to arise out of nothing‚ for how can its existence be actualized if the potential is not there? The truth of the
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He is infinitely good (pg. 125). The first argument offered concludes there must be a first mover‚ “and this everyone understands to be God” (pg. 126). His first argument does not prove the unmoved mover is good or bad. Aquinas‚ like most‚ understand God to be the original mover and infinitely good. Can we take Aquinas’ first argument as any proof of God’s existence? I believe not. Aquinas must argue such a creator is all good. Aquinas’ fourth argument puts all beings on the good/bad scale. There
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‘The design arguments prove God’s existence’. Assess this view. (30 marks) Design arguments‚ also sometimes known as teleological arguments‚ from the Greek ‘Telos’ for goal and ‘Logos’‚ meaning reason‚ hence reasoning for a goal or purpose and that purpose being God’s existence. These arguments endeavour to ascertain God’s existence‚ by inferring from evidence of design and purpose in the universe‚ and claim that there must have been a designer of this. Design arguments start from experience
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Katie Wyatt 20th October Examine the key strengths of the Design Argument for the existence of God The Design Argument can be split into two sides: design qua purpose and design qua regularity. The key idea of design qua purpose comes from William Paley. He used analogy as the basis for his argument‚ noting how the complex design of a watch allows all the parts to work together perfectly to achieve its purpose. He then noted the complexity‚ order and purpose of the universe‚ stating that "every
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Ontologically‚ epistemologically‚ and methodologically‚ the present study fits most comfortably within the constructivist approach. On the ontological front‚ the formal model proposed in the previous chapter reflects the acceptance in the present study of the core ontological tenets of constructivism. Namely‚ I modeled constructivism’s two core ontological tenets: (1) that “social reality is constructed” and social agents are the “social constructors of their own practices and structures;” and (2)
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their time‚ energy‚ and often their tithing to support a God and a religion in which they are devout‚ it would only be practical to have seen and met the person whom you are so intensely dedicated. Proving Gods existence has become a stepping stone argument for atheists and agnostics alike to gain a voice in a religious discussion and simply a question of faith to those who believe. Scientists have dedicated infinite amounts of hours to understanding the creation of the world and the things that they
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Do you agree that the first cause argument proves that God exists? The first cause argument takes the existence of the universe to entail the existence of a being that created it. It does so based on the fact that the universe had a beginning. There must‚ the first cause argument says‚ be something that caused that beginning‚ a first cause of the universe. I do believe that the first cause argument proves God’s existence. This is because the universe consists of a series of events stretched across
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in which the design argument provides evidence for the existence of God The design argument is an explanation used by theists to prove the existence of God. It is also called the teleological argument. The word teleological comes from the Greek word teleos which means ‘end’ or ‘purpose’. The argument uses observation of the natural world to provide evidence of design and uses this evidence to back up the existence of God as what has been designed needs a designer. As the argument uses evidence to confirm
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