Edexcel A level Religious Studies Design
Argument May 2024 Exam Review
Questions and Answers 100% Pass
overview of the design argument? - Answer>> - based on
experience of yhe order of the universe - passing of the seasons,
tides, moons etc
- the universe is ordered towards some end or purpose and it's
more probable that this is because of an intelligent designer
- inductive - because it reasons from particular instances to a
general conclusion
- a posteriori - argues off of our sense-experience
How does analogy have a role in philosphical arguments? -
Answer>> - use analogy to illustrate and explain ideas and
propose theories
- you can judge the strength of an argument by seeing how well
the analogy works - do the comparisons actually have similarity
What is Paley's watch analogy? - Answer>> - famous argument
from analogy
- if you found a stone on a heath you would assume it belonged
there and had always been there - it doesn't have a clear purpose
- if you found a watch on a heath you wouldn't assume that it had
just appeared by chance
- this is because the watch has clearly been designed to fulfil a
purpose - it contains evidence of design ( teleology) - which
means it must have a designer a watchmaker
- Paley draws an analogy between the watch and the natural
world
, Paley's argument form purpose? - Answer>> - in the watch
everything has been designed to fulfil a purpose. This is the same
for the natural world eg:
the eye is intricately designed for vision
birds have wings and light bones so that they can fly.
Just as it is unreasonable to argue that the watch appeared
without a watch maker - it is unreasonable to argue that the
universe came about with a designer - God.
Paley's argument from regularity? - Answer>> - A watch works
by having regular mechanical movements. This regularity in the
watch can also be seen in the universe - tides, seasons, moon
cycles. regularity in the mechanism of the watch points to a
designer so regularity in the universe points to a designer in the
universe
Hume on the design argument? - Answer>> - our experience of
the universe is limited - when we see a house we can conclude
that it has a builder, when we see a watch we can conclude there
was a watchmaker - but only because we have experience of
these things. We have no experience of a universe creator - so
we cannot infer the cause
analogies don't always work well - there aren't enough strong
analogies between the watch and the world. The watch is a
machine and is man made, the universe is an organic entity - so
we cannot infer that they have a similar cause
we cannot know anything about the cause from the effect. Paley
assumes from the cause that there is a designer, that it s god and
that it is a christian God. Even if there is a designer there si
nothing to suggest that is a christian God - it could be multiple
gods, doesn't prove that the god is omnipotent, omnibenevolent,
omniscient etc.
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