Hume's criticisms of the Design Arguments (A-level RS)

Here, we'll cover Hume's criticisms of the Design Argument. Specifically:
- Disanalogy
- The Fallacy of Composition
- Anthropomorphism
Perfect for the study of A-level RS

[@zey2bme]

These videos are really good. I'm surprised they don't get more attention.

[@intelligentdesign2295]

I think we can provide counterarguments to many of Hume's objections.
"A great number of men join in building a house or a ship, in rearing a
city, in framing a commonwealth: why may not several deities combine in contriving and framing a world?" (Dialogues)
Response:
"And, to jump ahead a bit, there are two further problems with
polytheism as an explanation of the existence of not merely a universe but a universe governed throughout space and time by the same
natural laws .
If this order in the world is to be explained by many gods, then some
explanation is required for how and why they cooperate in producing
the same patterns of order throughout the universe. This becomes a
new datum requiring explanation for the same reason as the fact of
order itself. The need for further explanation ends when we postulate
one being who is the cause of the existence of all others, and the
simplest conceivable such-I urge-is God. And, further, the power
of polytheism to explain this order in the world is perhaps not as
great as that of theism. If there were more than one deity responsible
for the order of the universe, we would expect to see characteristic
marks of the handiwork of different deities in different parts of the
universe, just as we see different kinds of workmanship in the
different houses of a city. We would expect to find an inverse square
of law of gravitation obeyed in one part of the universe, and in
another part a law that was just short of being an inverse square
law-without the difference being explicable in terms of a more
general law." (Richard Swinburne "The Existence Of God")
"If the
physical universe is the product of intelligent design, rather than
being a pure accident, it is more likely to be the handiwork of only
one rather than more than one intelligence. This is so for two broad
reasons. The first reason is the need for theoretical parsimony. In the
absence of any evidence for supposing the universe to be the handiwork of more than one intelligence rather than only one, then, faced
with a choice between supposing it the handiwork of one or of more
than one intelligent designer, we should choose to suppose it to be the
creation of only one. For it is not necessary to postulate more than
one to account for the phenomena in question. The second reason for
preferring the hypothesis of there being only one designer of the
universe to supposing more than one is that the general harmony and
uniformity of everything in the universe suggest that, should it be the
product of design, it is more likely to be the handiwork of a single
designer, rather than a plurality of designers who might have been
expected to have left in their joint product some trace of their plural
individualities." (David Conway "Rediscovery Of Wisdom")
“But how this argument can have place where the objects, as in the present case, are single, individual, without parallel or specific resemblance, may be difficult to explain.” (Dialogues)
Response:
"From time to time various writers have told us that we cannot
reach any conclusions about the origin or development of the universe, since it is the only one of which we have knowledge, and
rational inquiry can reach conclusions only about objects that belong
to kinds, for example, it can reach a conclusion about what will
happen to this bit of iron only because there are other bits of iron,
the behaviour of which can be studied. This objection has the
surprising, and to most of these writers unwelcome, consequence,
that physical cosmology could not reach justified conclusions about
such matters as the size, age, rate of expansion, and density of the
universe as a whole (because it is the only one of which we have
knowledge); and also that physical anthropology could not reach
conclusions about the origin and development of the human race
(because, as far as our knowledge goes, it is the only one of its kind).
The implausibility of these consequences leads us to doubt the
original objection, which is indeed totally misguided." (Richard Swinburne "The Existence Of God")
"By tracing the origin of
the physical universe to a supposed 'Big Bang', modern cosmology
places Hume in the following dilemma. Either, he must deny that the
physical universe as a whole is singular and unique, on the grounds
that it resembles other things besides it that explode, such as
grenades. Or, alternatively, should he insist on the uniqueness of the
physical universe, he must concede that there are some unique things
which are capable of standing as terms of causal relations. " (David Conway "Rediscovery Of Wisdom")
"[I]f we survey the universe ..., it bears a great resemblance to an
animal or organized body, and seems actuated with a like principle
of life and motion. A continual circulation of matter in it ...: a
continual waste in every part is incessantly repaired: the closest
sympathy is perceived throughout the entire system: and each part
or member ... operates both to its own preservation and to that of
the whole [I]t must be confessed, that... the universe resembles
more a human body than it does the works of human art and
contrivance [Y]et is the analogy also defective in many circumstances ...: no organs of sense; no seat of thought or reason; no one
precise origin of motion and action. In short, it seems to bear a
stronger resemblance to a vegetable than to an animal." (Dialogues)
Response:
"Hume's argument seems weak. Hume's claim is that the physical
universe - more specifically, our solar system - bears a closer resemblance to some animal or a vegetable than it does some machine or
other artefact. The claim is unconvincing.
In its manifest workings,
the physical universe in general, and our own solar system in particular, exhibits a degree of regularity and predictability that far exceeds
that which is exhibited by any animal or vegetable. After all, it is by
the sun that we set our clocks and not by the comings and goings of
sun-flowers or salamanders! That this is so suggests that the physical
universe more closely resembles some regular and predictable
machine or artefact, for example a clock, than it does any far less
regular and predictable animal or vegetable.
" (David Conway "Rediscovery Of Wisdom")

[@Finally4Christ]

I don't understand the disanalogy. You can't just dismiss the analogy because it's man made items vs. natural (intelligent design). That is the entire point that if complex object or systems, regardless of being man made or in nature, can only have utility or purpose when intelligence has established it. The topic of wether God has human like qualities like being mortal or female is irrelevant in the conversation about Intelligent design. That's a red herring.
I don't think Hume was the first person to suggest that God was like a humble mortal human. Jesus made that point for us.
I could entertain the argument that there maybe multiple God entities creating many universes easier than I could entertain the idea that there is no creator at all.
The arguments presented by Hume has valid points to consider but they don't invalidate or refute the arguments for intelligent design, they only dismiss them out of hand.

[@eapooda]

Hey guys Ive found the christian ^^

[@communisthermit]

@@eapoodaHey guys, I’ve found the pompous atheist!

[@zey2bme]

@echo4angi I think Hume was saying Aquinas was incorrect in suggesting he had proven the existence of the Christian god, not necessarily intelligent design in general.
For all the other people in the comments, lets try to keep it civilized down here.

[@jonathacirilo5745]

​@@zey2bme did aquinas ever say that the teleological argument proved the existence of the God of Christianity tho? that doesn't seem right. I think his arguments were made to show that theism is true or most likely true, and then you go from there to Christianity.

[@marknyipuochdimoabang1249]

He meant Hume

[@ovobrett]

Hume says because "he" is an empiricist; he meaning Hume or Aquinas?

[@edwardcurd416]

hume, aquinas is not an empiricist