WorksheetsAquinas & Paley: Cosmological Argument & Design Argument
Total questions: 14
Worksheet time: 8mins
Why did Aquinas say the causer is uncaused?
To avoid infinite regress (the chain reaction of 'stuff causing other stuff' going back forever)
Because it simply wanted to be
To avoid necessity
To avoid scientific theories
Aquinas wrote out his arguments to try to prove God (including the cosmological argument) in which book?
Summa Theologica
Republic
Proslogian
Natural Theology
What does fallacy mean?
Mistaken belief
Argument to prove God’s existence
A criticism
An alternative to infinite regression
What does Cosmological mean?
Study of the origins and development of the Universe
Study of Design
Study of Purpose
Study of God
What other name(s) is the Cosmological Argument known by?
The first cause argument
The cosmos argument
Argument from contingency
Argument of the falling dominoes
What is a necessary being?
A being that cannot fail to exist - such as a God
A being that could have not existed
A being that might have existed
A being that exists and doesn't exist at the same time
What is infinite regress?
A chain of causes which can never come to an end.
A finite chain of events
A chain of events that goes backwards
A feedback loop of causes
What does 'The Divine Watchmaker' mean?
The analogy that a pocket watch is purposeful, complex, and needs an intelligent designer; just like the universe could do also
A famous watchmaker with a lot of technical expertise; such as Omega or Rolex
Divine argument that watches are complex, purposeful, and made by God
God made the world, as a designer made a watch
Who was William Paley?
A Christian thinker that came up with the Design Argument
A Christian thinker that came up with the Cosmological Argument
An Mormon founder that came up with the Church of Mormonism
A philosopher that was a fan of pocket watches
An example of possible design and purpose in nature?
Trees take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen
A destructive hurricane
The human appendix which serves no purpose
The eye's 'blind spot' which causes many car crashes each year
What is the Design Argument?
The argument that we were created by random chance, or that we exist because of the Big Bang
The argument that the universe as a whole has an intelligent designer, which is God
The argument that God designed humans but not the world
The argument that evolution makes nature design itself
What is a theist?
Someone that believes in God
Someone that does not believe in God
Someone that is unsure about if a God exists or not
Someone that believes in multiple Gods
What is the anthropic principle?
The suggestion that the universe is set up for the development of intelligent life. A designer (considered to be God) was needed to ’fine tune’ things for life to exist.
The idea the universe is way too chaotic for a designer to be responsible for it
The idea that life is likely to exist beyond our planet so God may have created other creatures too
The idea that human life can occupy multiple planets and galaxies, and the scientific likelihood of this happening
What's a weakness of the Design Argument?
Complexity does not necessarily mean design
Lots of stuff looks complex and made with purpose, like the human eye
Our DNA is very complex and seems to be designed
Even if we accept that the world was designed, it cannot be assumed that its designer is God.
