1 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION –LECTURE 9 Teleological arguments: reasoning from the structure of the world to the nature of ultimate reality 14thMarch 2017 Gabriel Citron Handout THREE IMPORTANT VARIABLES, WHICH WE’LL BE TRACKING 1.Ground: the objects/qualities from which the inference/argument to a designer or designers is made 2.Inference: the kind of inference/argument that is used 3.Conclusion: the kind of designer or designers that are derived by means of the inference/argument WHAT QUALITIES TEND TO ‘REFLECT THE IMAGE OF MIND’ TO US IN UNCONTROVERSIAL NON-GOD-RELATED CONTEXTS? Cast study 1 William Paley (1743-1805), Natural Theology: “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 any thing I knew to the contrary, it had lain there for ever: nor would it perhaps be very easy to shew the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be enquired how the watch happened to be in that place, I should hardly think of the answer which I had before given, that, for any thing I knew, the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch, as well as for the stone? Why is it not as admissible in the second case, as in the first?” (Natural Theology, or Evidence of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected From the Appearances of Nature, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 7 [chap 1]) Case Study 2 John Day (15th/16thC), Letter to the Lord Grand Admiral (Dec 1497 - Jan 1498): “I do not send the map because I am not satisfied with it, for my many occupations forced me to make it in a hurry at the time of my departure; but from the said copy your Lordship will learn what you wish to know, for in it are named the capes of the mainland and the islands, and thus you will see where land was first sighted, since most of the land was discovered after turning back… [H]e landed at only one spot of the mainland, near the place where land was first sighted, and they disembarked there with a crucifix and raised banners with the arms of the Holy Father and those of the King of England, my master; and they found tall trees of the
2 kind masts are made, and other smaller trees, and the country is very rich in grass. In that particular spot, as I told your Lordship, they found a trail that went inland, they saw a site where a fire had been made, they saw manure of animals which they thought to be farm animals, and they saw a stick half a yard long pierced at both ends, carved and painted with brazil, and by such signs they believe the land to be inhabited. Since he was with just a few people, he did not dare advance inland beyond the shooting distance of a crossbow, and after taking in fresh water he returned to his ship.” (In James A Williamson, The Cabot Voyages and Bristol Discovery Under Henry VII, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1962, p. 212 [Document 25]) Case study 3 Arthur C Clarke (1917-2008), 2001: A Space Odyssey: “[T]he Administrator said, ‘
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