PHI2010 Week 6 Notes Teleological Argument Argument from Design 1 The world is full of things e g animals and processes e g gravity that integrate fit in a remarkable way e g like a watch 2 This Integration fit could not have just happened there are patterns of integration fit e g eyes for seeing that work too well and on would not work at all if not planned e g watch 3 Thus there must be a Supreme Designer of the integration fit 4 The Supreme Designer is God Problems with Ontological Argument Bad Analogy The world is not like a watch Plausible alternative explanations of complexity in nature i e Darwinian natural selection Even if there were a Supreme Designer it needs not be God Contemporary Arguments O Reilly s Argument 1 We know of no natural explanation for the tides 2 Hence explaining the tides requires a supernatural explanation 3 A supernatural explanation requires an appeal to a supernatural being 4 This supernatural being is God 5 God Exists O Reilly s Argument 2 gravitational pull on the earth that makes the tides go in and out 2 Explaining that requires a supernatural explanation 3 A supernatural explanation requires an appeal to a supernatural being 4 This supernatural being is God 5 God Exists 1 We know of no natural explanation for why the moon is in such a position that it exerts a Sounds like Teleological Argument argument from design Pascal s Wager 1 We cannot give reasons for the truth of God s existence 2 But we must either believe in God or not 3 Suppose God exist If we believe in God the payoff is eternal bliss if we do not the loss is 4 Suppose God does NOT exist If we believe in God the loss is very small if we do not the eternal damnation gain is also very small 5 The best option is to believe that God exists I believe in God Infinity I don t believe in God Infinity 0 0 God Exists God Does Not Exist Blackbun s Critique Pascal s Wager begins from the admission that we lack metaphysical knowledge about God P1 we cannot give reasons for the truth of God s Existence Despite our inability to give good arguments reasons for God s existence there is unity in believing that God exists If we believe in God and it exists then payoff is large e g eternal bliss but if God does not exist then the loss is small e g getting up early on Sunday to go to church Crucial flaw in argument The argument actually does not require some metaphysical knowledge about God we must know that God rewards belief and punishes disbelief Therefore the argument does not even get going because P1 is contradicted P1 We cannot give reasons for the truth of God s existence Other possible metaphysical truths God rewards disbelief different versions of God The Wager is radically oversimplified Terminology Opinion A view or judgement formed about something not necessarily based on fact or knowledge Source of Opinions Personal Experience Feelings Unreflective Thought A reasons or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or Argument idea is right or wrong What do argumenta include Reasoning Rationality logic fact knowledge Major Difference Opinions are not true false arguments are true false Major Similarity Both opinions and arguments guide decisions and actions isms Theism Theist Belief that God exists Atheism Atheist Belief that God does NOT exist Agnosticism Agnostic Belief that available evidences is insufficient to decide if God exists or not God Hindu Omniscient omnipotent all good Classic Western Theists Simplicity God Nature of God timeless outside of time immutable unchanging impassible creates sustains world Einstein Jefferson Spinoza Nature laws of nature Cahn All good all powerful eternal creator of the world Cahn page 247 Arguing about God Can we argue about God YES As long as theism is defended simply as a dogma asserted as a matter of direct revelation or as the deliverance of authority belief in the dogma is impregnable to rational argument In fact however reasons are frequently advanced in support of the theistic creed and these reasons have been the subject if acute philosophical critiques Nagel page 247 Why do we want God to be open to argument It s a concept that plays a major if not central role in many people s lives around the It s a concept that plays a major if not central role in guiding the decisions and actions world of many people Does God Religion No Religion A particular system of faith and worship NOAD Consider Same system of faith different conception of God Different system of faith same conception of God Does God Exist Nagel Arguments for the existence of God Cosmological Argument a priori rational Ontological Argument a priori rational Teleological Argument a posteriori empirical Cosmological Argument Also known as the argument from first cause 1 Every event must have a cause Hence an even A must have cause B must have cause C and so on If there is no end to this progression of causes then there is an infinite series of events But it would be unintelligible and absurd if there was an infinite series of events 2 3 There must be a first cause and that is God Problems If everything must have a cause why doesn t God require one If God is self caused why can t the world be self caused Ontological Argument Argument from Perfection 1 God is a concept that is the greatest that can be imagined 2 God exists as an idea in the mind 3 A being that exists as an ideas in the mind and in reality is greater than a being as an idea in the mind greater than God 6 God exists Problems this is absurd 4 Thus if God exists only as an idea in the mind then we can imagine something that is 5 But we cannot imagine something that is greater than God for it is contradiction to suppose that we can imagine a being greater than the greatest possible being that can be imagined The same reasoning establishes that the most perfect conceivable island really exists and Kant Existence is not a property So the concept of God does not include existence as one of God s necessary properties To claim that God does not exist is just to reject the existence of something with all of the properties contained in the concept of God W hen we think of 100 we are thinking of the nature of this sum of money but the nature of 100 remains the same whether we have 100 in our pockets or not Nagel page 248 Teleological Argument Argument from Design 1 The world is full of things e g animals and processes e g gravity that integrate fit in a remarkable way e g like a watch 2 This integration