The Design Argument For The Existence Of God Example Essay Example
The Design Argument For The Existence Of God Example Essay Example

The Design Argument For The Existence Of God Example Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (720 words)
  • Published: September 6, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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The design argument or the teleological argument suggests that the universe is created by a designer. It states that the complexity of the order and patterns of the operation of the world could not have been created out of chance or by random; instead it is made by a creator.William Daley is a well known advocate of the theory; his arguments consist of two parts - design qua purpose and design qua regularity.

The design qua purpose argument states that the complex involved in assembling and designing human, animals the nature could have only been accomplished by a "designing creator". He gives examples such as the operation of the human eye which allows us to see things stating that God has created it for the purpose of allowing us to see. Indeed, one slight rearrangement of the structure o

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f our eyes would have caused us to be blind thus the likelihood for the formation of a human eye to be accomplished randomly is very low.Daley's argument of design qua regularity points out that there are simply too much universal laws stating that the world could not have been created out of random. He believes there is an "external agent" who has imposed such orders to the world; the external agent has to be God.

The Anthropic Principle is a recent development supporting the design argument. The developer of the principle F.R. Tennant uses natural/ scientific arguments to show that the world has been designed. First, he states that the world has been designed as it can be analysed in a rational manner.

Secondly, the world is sufficient in that it contains all needed resources to sustai

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human life. Thirdly, the human race has gone through evolution to emerge into more intelligent beings. Tennant argues that without God's existence the world would have not had the above factors and would be a chaotic place.Richard Swinburne was a supporter of this principle. He believed that it all came down to probabilities - is it more likely that the order which exists in the world is created out of random or designed? He concluded that it is more likely that the universe is created by a divine creator.

F.R. Tennant also wrote the Aesthetic argument which states that human beings not only possess the qualities needed to survive in the universe; but that of the ability to appreciate and understand art, music and literature. Therefore, there must have been a divine creator who created the universe and not just a result of nature selection as those qualities are not needed for survival.The design argument has been criticised and amongst critics David Hume is the most recognizable.

Firstly, he stated that we as human beings lack both the experience and knowledge of the creation of the world therefore we cannot be sure that there is only one designer. Furthermore, we have only experienced things which we created as human beings and cannot compare this kind of an experience to the divine creation of the universe. Secondly, Hume argues that the design argument if true only proves that there was a design or even designers - not to mention that the designer does not have to be God.Another critic would be John Stuart Mill who stated that the design argument is insufficient in proving the existence of

God. Mill believes that if a divine God did exist he would not allow the means of evil and suffering to exist; instead we will all be living in peace and love.The Epicurean Hypothesis also challenged the design argument stating that the universe could have been created out of the coalition of particles in a random motion over a gradual period of time; therefore, by changes instead of by design.

It argued that an ordered and stable system of universe such as the one with live in now could have been a result of such over a period of time.Indeed, the design argument could have been true and that the universe has been created and designed by an intelligent mind or force. However, it is important to understand that just as Hume pointed out; the world might not have been created only by a sole, unique designer. Even if it has, the designer does not necessarily have to be God.

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