Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
2023
The design argument, also known as the teleological argument, is one of the most commonly used evidences of the existence of a Creator God. Over the centuries, the argument has taken many forms, from the pre-Socratics to Jewish rabbis to Hindu philosophy and the modern debate over Intelligent Design (ID) and theistic evolution (TE). Present day controversies seem to show that disagreements over the apparent design of nature have roots in deep historical and metaphysical differences. We believe there is much to learn from how different religious traditions (here, Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have engaged or are engaging with design discourse. So, we are arranging a two-day online closed-door workshop on the history and metaphysics of design arguments, to be hosted at the University of Helsinki.
*God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science*
Introduction to *God and Design*2003 •
Design Discourse: A Way Forward for Theistic Evolutionism?
Design Discourse: A Way Forward for Theistic Evolutionism?2018 •
It is usually supposed that biological design arguments (where biological complex order is seen as evidence of a Creator) are made obsolete by Darwinian evolutionary theory. However, philosopher Alvin Plantinga and others have defended the continued possibility of a rational “design discourse”, in which biological order is taken as a sign of God’s purposeful action. In this article, I consider two objections to design discourse: (1) a theological objection to biological design based on the problem of natural evil, and (2) the evolutionary objection, according to which evolutionary theory removes the justification for any biological design perception. Whereas Plantinga’s own response utilizes the arguments of the Intelligent Design movement, I argue in favor of utilizing “design discourse” as part of a theistic evolutionist view.
Design arguments are empirical arguments for God’s existence. These arguments typically, though not always, proceed by identifying various empirical features of the world that constitute evidence of intelligent design and inferring God’s existence as the best explanation for these features. This article explains and evaluates a number of classic and contemporary versions of the argument: (1) Aquinas’s “fifth way’; (2) the argument from simple analogy; (3) Paley’s watchmaker argument; (4) the argument from guided evolution; (5) the argument from irreducible biochemical complexity; (6) the argument from biological information; and (7) the fine-tuning argument.
2010 •
Proponents of design arguments attempt to infer the existence of God from various properties or features of the world they take to be evidence of intelligent design. Thus, for example, the fine-tuning argument attempts to infer the existence of a divine designer from the improbable fact that life would not be possible if any of approximately two- to three-dozen fundamental laws and properties of the universe had been even slightly different. Similarly, the argument from biochemical complexity attempts to infer the existence of a divine designer from the improbable fact that living beings frequently instantiate what proponents call irreducible specified complexity. In this essay, I argue that we are justified in making design inferences only in contexts where there is already strong independent reason to think that there exist intelligent agents with the ability to bring about the occurrence of the relevant entity, feature, or property. Only in such contexts is there sufficient information to justify assigning a probability to the design hypothesis that is higher than the probability that we are presumably justified in assigning to the chance hypothesis. Accordingly, design arguments implicitly presuppose that some other argument for God’s existence justifies assigning a probability to the design hypothesis that is larger than the probability we can assign to the chance hypothesis. What this means, contra the intentions of proponents, is that design arguments for the existence of God cannot stand by themselves.
The argument from design stands as one of the most intuitively compelling arguments for the existence of a divine Creator. Yet, for many scientists and philosophers, Hume’s critique and Darwin’s theory of natural selection have definitely undermined the idea that we can draw any analogy from design in artefacts to design in nature. Here, we examine empirical studies from developmental and experimental psychology to investigate the cognitive basis of the design argument. From this it becomes clear that humans spontaneously discern purpose in nature. When constructed theologically and philosophically correctly, the design argument is not presented as conclusive evidence for God’s existence but rather as an abductive, probabilistic argument. We examine the cognitive basis of probabi- listic judgments in relationship to natural theology. Placing emphasis on how people assess improbable events, we clarify the intuitive appeal of Paley’s watch analogy. We conclude that the reason why some scientists find the design argument compelling and others do not lies not in any intrinsic differences in assessing design in nature but rather in the prior probability they place on complexity being produced by chance events or by a Creator. This difference provides atheists and theists with a rational basis for disagreement.
Blackwell: A companion to philosophy of religion, Philip L. Quinn & Charles Taliaferro, eds.
Teleological and design arguments1997 •
Ch. 43: Teleological and Design Arguments LAURA L. GARCIA Teleological arguments make a case for the existence of God based on examples of apparent design or purposiveness in the natural world. These arguments have appealed to such general features of the universe as its beauty, its orderly or law-like operations, the interconnectedness of its parts, and its intelligibility; or to more specific features such as its suitability for life, its providing the right conditions for moral growth, or its including conscious beings. Discussion of such arguments usually revolves around whether or not the examples of apparent design in nature are caused by an intelligent being or can be explained in some other way (e.g., by natural selection) or are simply a matter of chance.
2022 •
Some Muslim thinkers argue against evolution using intelligent design (ID) arguments. One possible impetus for this line of reasoning is the several indications of design mentioned throughout the Qurʾān. Therefore, criticizing ID could be seen as a direct attack on the Qurʾānic outlook. However, this article will argue that this is a false equation. The Qurʾānic design argument, as articulated in the tradition of Sunnī scholastic theology (kalām), argues for the existence of a supernatural God by acknowledging natural causes that bring about designed phenomena in the universe. By contrast, Muslim thinkers who use ID to argue against evolution are arguing for the existence of a supernatural being through the supposed inability of science to explain designed phenomena through natural causes. Thus, there is a fundamental difference between the design outlook provided in the Qurʾān versus the arguments of ID. Accordingly, this article argues that critiquing ID does not undermine the design discourse of the Qurʾān.
UN OSPITALIERO DELLA STORIA OMAGGIO ALL’OPERA DI VICTOR MALLIA-MILANES
War At Sea - Changes, Technology, Tactics, And Strategy2024 •
Association of Mexican American Educators Journal
Education, Law and the Courts: Communities in the Struggle for Equality and Equity in Public Education2019 •
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Perspectives on Origen and the History of His Reception2021 •
International Journal of Clinical & Medical Imaging
Mediastinal Mass Excision-Simple and Safe in Non-specialised Centres2016 •
Sinir Sistemi Cerrahisi Dergisi
Neurocysticercosis: A Rare Cause of Occipital Lobe Epilepsy2014 •
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Microalgae diversity and interactions with fungi and bacteria in the estuarine plastisphere of Patos Lagoon, Brazil2022 •
2016 •
Jurnal Ilmu Lingkungan (Program Studi Magister Ilmu Lingkungan, Program Pascasarjana Universitas Diponegoro)
Karakteristik Sampah Sungai dan Perilaku Masyarakat Pesisir Terhadap Sampah Plastik: Studi Kasus di Sungai Pengarengan, Kabupaten Cirebon2022 •
Journal of medical cases
Recurrent Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy due to Pheochromocytoma Managed With Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation2024 •
International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology
Streamlining Document Processing: Basis foran Online Document Management System2024 •
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
“Check the grade, log out”: students’ engagement with feedback in learning management systems2020 •