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Description
Flashcards by Rachael Priestley, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Rachael Priestley
over 6 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| A Priori arguments | Arguments which draw conclusions through the use of reason. |
| A Posteriori arguments | Arguments which draw conclusions based on observation through experience. |
| Teleological arguments | Use observation of order, beauty and complexity to draw the conclusion that God exists. Teleological comes from the Greek word 'telos' which means 'tail' or 'end', because the argument uses end results as a basis for drawing its conclusions. |
| Cosmological arguments | Use observation of the fact that the universe exists at all to draw conclusions that it must have been brought into existence by God. |
| Natural Theology | Seeks to understand the existence and nature of God through observation of the world around us. |
| Ockham's razor | is a principle which says that the best explanation is usually the one which requires the fewest extra assumptions |
| Aquinas' Teleological (Design) argument | Thomas Aquinas lived in the 13th Century when Aristotle's ideas were new to the Christian world. Aquinas thought God gave us our reason so that we could learn about him. In his five ways, he gives five ways in which we can use reason to conclude God exists. The Fifth way is a short teleological argument. |
| Paley's Teleological argument | William Paley lived in the 18th Century. Paley used the analogy of someone finding a watch on a heath, to show that when we see things working in an orderly and purposeful manner, we know they must have been designed. He said we see order and purpose in the world too, and can conclude they must have been designed by God. |
| What was the name of the book in which Paley set out his Teleological argument? | Natural Theology |
| Aquinas' Cosmological argument | The First way is the unmoved mover - we observe motion and change in the world. The second way is the uncaused causer - we observe Cains of cause and effect in the world The third way is contingency - we observe that everything in the universe depends on something else for its existence. All of these must have a reason, that is God. |
| Leibniz and the principle of sufficient reason | Leibniz argued that there must be a sufficient reason or explanation for everything. The universe requires a sufficient reason, and the only reason sufficient to explain the existence of the universe must be God. |
| Humes Criticisms of the teleological arguments and cosmological arguments | Hume argue that the analogy between the world and the watch is weak, the world is nothing like a watch in its mechanisms. Order in the world doesn't necessarily mean that it must have been designed, it could have come by chance. The universe is unique, so we cannot know how universes are usually made or whether ours is usually ordered. |
| What century was David Hume alive and in what book did he criticise the teleological and cosmological arguments? | David Hume was an 18th Century sceptic philosopher. In Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Hume critiqued the teleological and cosmological arguments. |
| Possible criticisms of teleological arguments | Darwins theory of evolution through natural selection provides an alternative explanation for the characteristics of living things. Chance is another possibility. Not everyone sees the world as orderly and beautiful. some see it as chaotic and full of ugliness and pointlessness. As an a Posteriori argument it can only lead to a probable conclusion and doesn't prove it. |
| Possible criticisms of cosmological arguments | Other theories suggest different explanations for the existence of the universe, such as the Big Bang theory, or chance. Not everyone thinks the universe requires any explanation or reason. It also cannot be proved because of the fact that it is again an a Posteriori argument. |
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