Theme 1: Inductive Arguments: Teleological

Aquinas fifth way

Aquinas "something that lacks intelligence cannot move towards fulfilling a useful end unless something with intelligence moves it"

example: Arrow and archer analogy
 the arrow itself cannot reach the target it must be moved by the archer to the target

Aquinas relates this to the universe stating that everything in the universe follows natural laws even if they posses no intelligence (stars), the fact these things follow these laws in doing so fulfill some purpose or end goal without any end goal suggests they have been moved by something else, God

Paley's Watchmaker- analogy of complex design

If we were to find a stone whilst walking we would come to a logical conclusion on how it was formed (natural events), however if we discovered a watch we wouldn't come to the same conclusions.

The watch would contain a complex inner working in order to work, the complexity of this would point to a creator of intelligence, in summary the watch with with all its complexities needs a intelligent watchmaker to explain its existence.

Paley's argument is then widened to the universe and the complex workings of our universe, and how this then infers a intelligent creator, for example the inner working of the eye, and the whole body alone is an example of designing intelligence.

"In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer, that, for anything I knew to the contrary, it had lain there forever: nor would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer I had before given, that for anything I knew, the watch might have always been there. ... There must have existed, at some time, and at some place or other, an artificer or artificers, who formed [the watch] for the purpose which we find it actually to answer; who comprehended its construction, and designed its use. ... Every indication of contrivance, every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature; with the difference, on the side of nature, of being greater or more, and that in a degree which exceeds all computation"

Tennant's Anthropic and Aesthetic arguments:

Evidential points:

• The very fact the natural world in which we live in provides precisely the things necessary for life to be sustained 
• The fact the natural world in which we live in can not only be observed but also hold up to rational analysis from which we can deduce its workings
• The fact that the process of evolution through natural selection has lead to the the development of intelligent human life- to the degree that intelligent life can observe and analyse the universe that it exists in.

Tennant's aesthetic argument is that humans have a natural appreciation of beauty and that no other species reacts in the way humans do to their surroundings, this argument can be extended to other forms of of appreciation like; Music, Art, or beauty.

Tennant argues that this appreciation is a result of a benevolent God, having designed it for the development of human life, God wanted their creation to not only live in the world but enjoy living in it, for Tennant the existence of beauty in this world is evidence for God and led  by way of revelation to discover the existence of god for themselves.

Key Terms: 

Telos: generally refers to the 'end','goal' or 'purpose' of something

Anthropic: related to being human 

Natural World: The world of nature comprising of all objects, organic and inorganic

Aesthetic: Related to the concept and appreciation of beauty