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Creationism vs theory of evolution argumentative essay
Creation vs evolution debate
Creationism vs theory of evolution argumentative essay
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Since the beginning of time, society has been plagued by questions stemming past the grasp of human understanding. In attempt to explain such bewilderment, mankind formed a principle belief regarding their presence as the workings of a more capable being, God. As time has progressed, distinguished and scholarly members of society have come forward with ideas regarding some distinct understanding into the complex subject that is god. To this day, students are taught theories that have managed to stand the test of time and interpretation, theories that are highly respected by the top scholars of this century. Throughout this paper, I will thoroughly outline, discuss, and analyze Paley’s argument on the existence of God. Paley’s use of earthly inferences to explain the existence of a higher being has been challenged by many, but his emphasis on purpose and goal-orientation is both well-conceived and logical. William Paley was an 18th century British philosopher who was very much involved in the Christian faith, attempting to join the priesthood himself (“William Paley”). William Paley concentrated passionately on the idea of God’s inevitable existence, attempting to prove it using both his belief and logical thinking. Paley’s metaphoric illustration proved to be one of the strongest philosophical examples, as he equated the idea of a supreme being to a designer of intricate mechanisms. By elaborating on the fact that the human design can only be reproduced anatomically, a more equipped and more powerful being was responsible for said creation. He explained that such creations as mankind, that contain complicated machinery, do not happen by chance, but by previous consideration and manipulation. This manipulation is devise... ... middle of paper ... ...grammed and assemble the intricate design of the human body. I thoroughly agree with Paley’s explanation and find that even the counter arguments do not hold much motive in disproving such a solid teleological theory. The theory of evolution and explicit imperfections in individual beings prove the meticulous nature of the designer having created the being with both physical and intellectual properties to aid in the triumph over death. Paley managed to explain a complicated subject in such a way that the most simpleminded person could not resist his comparison, manipulation and prior consideration explains the existence and survival of the human species which could have only been possible by the workings of a higher being. Works Cited "William Paley (1743-1805)." William Paley. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. .
The conclusion as stated before but more simplified is, nature has a design, and that the architect of this design is God himself. This is the purpose of the argument as a whole. His entire drive for this argument seemed to convince others that there is a higher being with a higher power. Paley attempted to convince and bring the ath...
However, David Hume, succeeds in objecting this argument by claiming that the experience is a necessary factor for understanding the creation of the universe. Lastly, I argued that Paley’s argument was not sufficient for proving God’s existence with the argument by design because we cannot assume the world will comply and work the way we wish
William Paley’s teleological argument (also known as the argument from design) is an attempt to prove the existence of god. This argument succeeds in proving that while existence was created by an aggregation of forces, to define these forces, as a conscious, rational, and ultimately godlike is dubious. Although the conclusions are valid, the argument makes several logical errors. The teleological argument relies on inductive reasoning, rendering the argument itself valid, but unsound. The argument fails to apply its own line of reasoning to itself, resulting in infinite regression. Beyond the scope of its logical flaws, the arguments content lacks accurate comparisons. The argument hinges on a watch metaphor, and as will be shown, this metaphor will prove inaccurate in explaining the creation of the universe.
During the 1800th century, William Paley, an English philosopher of religion and ethics, wrote the essay The Argument from Design. In The Argument from Design, Paley tries to prove the existence of a supreme being through the development of a special kind of argument known as the teleological argument. The teleological argument is argument by analogy, an argument based on the similarities between two different subjects. This essay purposefully attempts to break down Paley’s argument and does so in the following manner: firstly, Paley’s basis for the teleological argument is introduced; secondly, Paley’s argument is derived and analyzed; thirdly, the connection between Paley’s argument and the existence of a supreme being is made; and lastly, the supreme being is compared to the supreme being in Western Philosophy, God.
The controversial topic involving the existence of God has been the pinnacle of endless discourse surrounding the concept of religion in the field of philosophy. However, two arguments proclaim themselves to be the “better” way of justifying the existence of God: The Cosmological Argument and the Mystical Argument. While both arguments attempt to enforce strict modus operandi of solidified reasoning, neither prove to be a better way of explaining the existence of God. The downfall of both these arguments rests on commitment of fallacies and lack of sufficient evidence, as a result sabotaging their validity in the field of philosophy and faith.
With this premise, Paley introduces the connection between the watch and our universe. He explains clearly that if a watch needs a designer, surely the far more complex universe should need one to. Paley justifies the existence of God through this watch and universe simile. He concludes that if a watch needs a superior designer, then the universe needs a maker as well, this maker being God.
The reason why the argument fails is because Paley put’s emphasis on giving things a single sole purpose. If things had multiple purposes from Paley’s point of view then it would be a lot more difficult to strike the argument down. This argument also shows the 3 point rule god. Paley has shown in this argument that god is all good, all powerful, and all knowing. The argument also gives a good argument as to how certain things must have intelligent design in order for it to be created. This is where I believe it mostly thrives. If we were to look at another argument like The Ontological Argument it states that the greatest thing that we can conceive exists in the mind, but it is greater to exist in reality than in the mind, but if nothing greater than god can be conceived in the mind then god must exist in reality. This argument can easily be torn apart if someone just believes that god is not the greatest thing that can be conceived. It also does not prove god’s existence throughout the world physically, but with the mind. Where as Paley’s argument shows god through the “creations” he has created and explaining how god is the
The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski uses clever and unique critiques of militant atheism and its devotion to scientism. Ten in depth chapters shed light on the dogmatic stance of many of today’s popular “new atheists.” According to Berlinski new atheism poses itself as the sole holder of truth through science, “And like any militant church, this one places a familiar demand before all others: Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (10). Berlinski (a secular Jew) approaches ideas with his own mixture of intelligence and thought filled logic; exploring the world as well as important philosophical questions pertaining to “new atheism”. Thus providing the information needed to explore the sides for both and existence and nonexistence of God.
The existence of god has been relentlessly debated with many strong arguments. This essay will primarily discuss the most prevalent arguments for and against the existence of a higher being. Although there are many strong arguments for both atheism and theism, ultimately the theist point of view is greater justified morally and logically.
In which McCloskey rejects it. This argument is like the cosmological argument; it too begins with the existence of the cosmos. It claims that because the world has complex design, this is evidence of a designer. Just as if something is carried then there must be a carrier, so if there is design there must be a designer. McCloskey implies that the evidence and examples for this argument are not genuine and are disputable examples, meaning that they must not be proven wrong and opposes that certain claims are needed and irrational in the clear fact that God cannot be definite. About the teleological argument, “To get the proof going, genuine indisputable examples of design and purpose are needed, first let me state the standard he sets for the supporter of the argument is one he cannot live up to himself, so no I don’t think they are reasonable, I think his “very conclusive objection” is inconclusive. “I believe the argument here is not whether the design in the universe infers that there is someone who designed it, but whether the order and intricacy in the universe does represent design. Throughout this article McCloskey stresses the fact of the existence of evil, he addresses the idea that suffering and evil is contrary to the idea that there is a perfect all powerful God. Why would a perfect person create a world of suffering
In this paper I will examine the design argument for the existence of God. The argument argues that the universe didn’t come on its own, there was a designer God who designed this universe. The basic idea behind the design argument is that everything in this universe is set up in an order and planned way with a purpose and the designer of this universe would have existed prior to its existence. Universe was not designed by chance, there was a supernatural power involved in it’s creation, which could just be God. The belief that God designed the universe can be taken from the way nature has been put together, the way human beings, animals and many other living beings are formed to live in this universe. The way deserts, beaches and mountains are formed having different weathers like summers, winters and springs make us believe more strongly that there is a supernatural designer behind all these beautiful things. The design argument to believe in the God has been contradicted by a number of philosophers, theologians and scientists with one of them comparing the existence of living organisms on this universe with that of a watch stating that both living organisms and watches are a product of an intelligent design which created a lot of objections.
William Paley and David Hume’s argument over God’s existence is known as the teleological argument, or the argument from design. Arguments from design are arguments concerning God or some type of creator’s existence based on the ideas of order or purpose in universe. Hume takes on the approach of arguing against the argument of design, while Paley argues for it. Although Hume and Paley both provide very strong arguments, a conclusion will be drawn at the end to distinguish which philosophiser holds a stronger position. Throughout this essay I will be examining arguments with reference to their work from Paley’s “The Watch and the Watchmaker” and Hume’s “The Critique of the Teleological Argument”.
According to the traditional Christian theistic tradition, God exists and is an omniscient, omnipotent and omni-benevolent being that desires to be in an intimate relationship with his creation. One way that God chooses to connect and communicate with his creation is through religious experiences. There are accounts throughout history of people such as Paul, or Saul (Acts 9), Joan of Arc and Teresa of Avila (P&R 220) being privy to these types of experience. Over time these religious experiences have been used as evidence for the argument for the existence of God. In this paper I will address this argument originally defined by C.D. Broad as well as the objections raised against it showing that these religious experiences are indeed sufficient
God can be defined as a being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions (1). There are many people that do not believe in any religion. People who do not believe in a religion have no reason for believing in a God. People who do not believe in a God and argue against the existence of God are proving something that is completely false. There is a God for numerous reasons.
In today’s society there are many arguments surrounding the question “does God exist?”. One of these is the teleological argument. The world around us is very intricate, from snowflakes to plain old rocks, much like the items we ourselves create. Many people nowadays and throughout history (myself included) noticed this trend and think about how our world is structured and detailed in a way that when studied closely, looks as though it must’ve been designed in order to exist at all. Nothing we create that is complex (a computer chip/watch) is there by chance, they had to be designed, it had to be intricately placed together in order to create said object. If this is true of manmade objects, then surely everything that surrounds has to be created by an intelligent being too? These thoughts were brought together by William Paley and form what is known as the teleological argument in philosophy.