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 Monday, November 02, 2009

NoodleCast #21: Design Arguments, Part 3

By Diana Hsieh @ 11:00 PM

In this episode of PhiloFiles, I discuss various Design Arguments for the existence of God, focusing on William Paley's Analogical Argument for Design.

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 Comments

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 7:51:14 mst
Comment ID: #1
Name: Patrick Reynolds
E-mail: preynol(at)twmi.rr.com

A couple of years ago (I think) you posted about how Ayn Rand wasn't sure about the existence of God and going so far as to calling her a genius even though she took an ambivalent position. My question is why do you feel so certain about the lack of a God when someone you so admire wasn't so certain?

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 8:36:23 mst
Comment ID: #2
Name: Diana Hsieh
E-mail: diana(at)dianahsieh.com
URL: http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog

Patrick -- You're confused.

First, my position (and certainty therein) in philosophic topics does not depend on Ayn Rand. I'm a philosopher, and I'm perfectly competent to judge the quality of philosophic arguments using my own brain. (The suggestion that I wouldn't, in fact, is offensive: it would imply a massive failure of independence on my part.) I've been an atheist from a very young age -- always for the same basic reason: understanding the natural world does not require positing any supernatural deity. I was a seriously committed atheist before I read Ayn Rand; I could not have changed that. In fact, Ayn Rand appealed to me in large part because her ethics wasn't just altruism-without-God, as was common among humanists, but something different.

Second, Ayn Rand most certainly was an atheist -- also from a young age, albeit for a different reason than me. (See: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/god.html ) Ayn Rand never studied evolution, so she was agnostic about that. (See: http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog/2008/05/check-your-premises.shtml ) Perhaps that's what you're thinking of. However, I have studied evolution, and I'm definitely not agnostic on it. (See point #1.) I'll be discussing evolution and design arguments in my next podcast, in fact.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 21:24:03 mst
Comment ID: #3
Name: Richard

I think splitting up the sections and podcasts was a great idea. It makes it a lot easier to use and suggest to others. Especially if you expect someone is more receptive to one podcast. Then if they like what they see (hear) they can sample your other content.

Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 8:22:34 mst
Comment ID: #4
Name: Neil Parille
E-mail: neilparille(at)yahoo.com
URL: http://objectiblog.blogspot.com/

Those who are interested in Paley and his design argument might find Catholic philosopher Ed Feser's critique interesting. He critiques Paley from a Thomistic-Aristotelian perspective:

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2009/11/trouble-with-william-paley.html

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2009/09/four-approaches-to-teleology.html

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2009/09/teleology-revisited.html

-Neil Parille

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