What is the teleological argument (design theory)?

Question

Identify two objections to the design argument. Do you think the objections refute the argument? Explain why or why not.

Answer 1

The teleological theory propounded by Aristotle argues that things are inherent in their origins (example he gives: the oak takes its shape from the acorn). Two objections are (1) that teleology is tautology — i.e., it doesn't really explain, but propounds a result that is predefined; (2) that it is complete determinism — does not leave room for change through free willl, action, or changes in circumstance, environment, or evolution. A contemporary example of a teleological argument is "everything is genetics", for example, that a person's behavior is compleely predetermined by his/her genes.

Answer 2

Objection 1: If the design is perfect, there can be no free will. Free will = potential for error, so no free will.

However, if the design is like a machine, in tact, then we need to use it, so there must be free will.

So you have a contradiction, one requires free will while the other disallows free will.

Objection 2: If the design has flaws, it is not perfect, so the designer is not perfect.

If the flaws are part of the design, then free will is also part of the design. It would be a perfect design with room for error due to the free willed thoughts of man. This makes common sense. The fact that we take responsibility for our actions, and there are constants in nature. As for "design," I see it more as our intelligence or will rather than a design of the creator. You could argue that this intelligence is the design, but then you would be saying that intelligent design is simply intelligence, the "design" is redundant. So rather than a design it is human intelligence creating an order out of thr chaos of the cosmos. And how are there constants? Because we, as humans, create symbols to logically order the phenomenon we see and experience. The design, then, belongs to us, in holding to our symbols of logic. In other words, it would be detrimental to question if 5 really equals 5. As for the "inherent" order of things, it is composed only of the fact that we command it to make sense in our minds. Nature doesn't care that we call the force we know as gravity, it is merely a fact of nature that bodies are held to the ground. So the only design is inherent facts of nature, which are the laws of nature as we perceive them through our sense perceptions. So yes, there is an intelligent designer, but those designs should be seen as the laws of nature, ready for us to be crafted and created to our likings.