A teleological argument (or a design argument) is an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of design in nature. The word "teleological" is derived from the Greek word telos, meaning end or purpose. Teleology, the supposition that there is purpose or directive principle in the works and processes of nature, is concerned only with natural phenomena and is thus distinct from similar arguments such as the formerly common argument that extraterrestrials built the Egyptian pyr ...

Including:

• Teleological argument - The argument
• Teleological argument - Objections and counter-argument
• Teleological argument - First and Second premise
• Teleological argument - Third premise
• Teleological argument - History
• Teleological argument - The watch argument
• Teleological argument - The eye argument
• Teleological argument - The anthropic principle
• Teleological argument - Controversy
• Teleological argument - References and further reading

Read more here: » Teleological argument: Encyclopedia - Teleological argument

See also:

Teleological argument, Teleological argument - The argument, Teleological argument - Objections and counter-argument, Teleological argument - First and Second premise, Teleological argument - Third premise, Teleological argument - History, Teleological argument - The watch argument, Teleological argument - The eye argument, Teleological argument - The anthropic principle, Teleological argument - Controversy, Teleological argument - References and further reading

Read more here: » Teleological argument: Encyclopedia II - Teleological argument - History

Although there are variations, the basic argument goes something like this: X is too complex to have occurred randomly or naturally. Therefore, X must have been created by an intelligent being. God is that intelligent being. Therefore, God exists. (Alternatively more than one intelligent being must have created X; therefore more than one creator, (i ...

See also:

Teleological argument, Teleological argument - The argument, Teleological argument - Objections and counter-argument, Teleological argument - First and Second premise, Teleological argument - Third premise, Teleological argument - History, Teleological argument - The watch argument, Teleological argument - The eye argument, Teleological argument - The anthropic principle, Teleological argument - Controversy, Teleological argument - References and further reading

Read more here: » Teleological argument: Encyclopedia II - Teleological argument - The argument

The watchmaker analogy is often used as a teleological argument (argument from design) in support of the view that the universe (or features of it) are the product of a conscious designer or designers. Watchmaker analogy - History. Monotheists have suggested: if we find a watch in a field, it is too complex to have appeared there by natural process so they assume that there must be a watchmaker responsible for its creation. Similarly, the argument goes, life is extremely complex and requires a creato ...

Including:

• Watchmaker analogy - History
• Watchmaker analogy - The watchmaker analogy before Paley
• Watchmaker analogy - William Paley
• Watchmaker analogy - After Paley
• Watchmaker analogy - Solar System Analogy
• Watchmaker analogy - The case against the watchmaker analogy
• Watchmaker analogy - Bad Design

Read more here: » Watchmaker analogy: Encyclopedia - Watchmaker analogy

Teleology is the supposition that there is design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the works and processes of nature, and the philosophical study of that purpose. Teleology stands in contrast to philosophical naturalism, and both ask questions separate from the questions of science. While science investigates natural laws and phenomena, Philosophical naturalism and teleology investigate the existence or non-existence of an organizing principle behind those natural laws and phenonema. Philosophical naturalism asserts that there are no su ...

Including:

• Teleology - Classical Greek teleology
• Teleology - Extrinsic and intrinsic finality
• Teleology - Teleology and modern philosophy

Read more here: » Teleology: Encyclopedia - Teleology

The cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of God. It is also known as the first cause argument for the existence of God, or the prime mover argument. There are three versions of this argument: the argument from causation in esse, the argument from causation in fieri, and the argument from contingency. Cosmological argument - Origins of the argument. Thomas Aquinas, the most famous philosopher of the Middle Ages, adapted an argument he found in his reading of Aris ...

Including:

• Cosmological argument - Origins of the argument
• Cosmological argument - The argument
• Cosmological argument - A more detailed version of the argument
• Cosmological argument - Critique and Objections
• Cosmological argument - Scientific positions

Read more here: » Cosmological argument: Encyclopedia - Cosmological argument

Many arguments about the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers, theologians, and other thinkers. This article lists some of the more common arguments, especially those covered in the area of philosophy of religion. In philosophical terminology, this article introduces schools of thought on the epistemology of the ontology of God. Existence of God - What is God? Definition of God's existence. See main articles: Definition, God, Deity, Ontology What does it mean to ass ...

Including:

• Existence of God - What is God? Definition of God's existence
• Existence of God - The problem of the supernatural
• Existence of God - How do we know?
• Existence of God - Positions on the Existence of God
• Existence of God - Theism
• Existence of God - Atheism
• Existence of God - Agnosticism
• Existence of God - Arguments for the existence of God
• Existence of God - Inductive arguments for
• Existence of God - Subjective arguments for
• Existence of God - Arguments against the existence of God
• Existence of God - Notes

Read more here: » Existence of God: Encyclopedia - Existence of God

History of creationism Creation in Genesis Types of creationism: Young Earth creationism - Creation science Old Earth creationism Omphalos creationism Theistic evolution Neo-Creationism Islamic creationism Intelligent design - Intelligent design movement Modern geocentrism Controversy: Creation vs. evolution ... in public education Associated articles Teach the Controversy Irreducible ...

Including:

• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Origins
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Evolution in context
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Natural history
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Cosmology
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Geology
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Evolutionary Biology
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Creationism
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Intelligent design
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Philosophy of science
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Philosophy of religion
• Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy - Creation-evolution controversy

Read more here: » Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy: Encyclopedia - Articles related to the creation-evolution controversy

Christian Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense (apologetics) of Christianity. The word "apologetic" comes from the Greek word apologia, which means in defense of. A person involved in Christian or Bible Apologetics is a defender of Christianity. Someone who engages in Christian apologetics is called a Christian apologist. This Classical Greek term appears in the Koine (i.e. common) Greek of the New Testament. The apostle Paul employed the term "apologia" in his trial speech to Fe ...

Including:

• Christian apologetics - Purpose
• Christian apologetics - History of Christian apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Christian apologetics today
• Christian apologetics - Types of Christian Apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Historical and legal evidentialist apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Prophetic Christian apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Biblical apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Philosophical apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Ontological argument
• Christian apologetics - Doctrinal Christian apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Moral Christian apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Scientific Christian apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Key print resources and introductory Christian apologetic works
• Christian apologetics - Overview and reference
• Christian apologetics - Historical and legal evidential Christian apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Prophetic
• Christian apologetics - Philosophical
• Christian apologetics - Biblical apologetics
• Christian apologetics - Moral
• Christian apologetics - Scientific
• Christian apologetics - General/classics
• Christian apologetics - Criticisms of Christian apologetics

Read more here: » Christian apologetics: Encyclopedia - Christian apologetics

History of creationism Creation in Genesis Types of creationism: Young Earth creationism - Creation science Old Earth creationism Omphalos creationism Theistic evolution Neo-Creationism Islamic creationism Intelligent design - Intelligent design movement Modern geocentrism Controversy: Creation vs. evolution ... in public education
Including:

• Creation biology - Elements of Creation Biology
• Creation biology - Criticism
• Creation biology - Sources

Read more here: » Creation biology: Encyclopedia - Creation biology

Gaia theory is a class of scientific models of the geo-biosphere in which life as a whole fosters and maintains suitable conditions for itself by helping to create an environment on Earth suitable for its continuity. The first such theory was created by the atmospheric scientist and chemist, Sir James Lovelock, who developed his hypotheses in the 1960s before formally publishing the concept, first in the New Scientist (February 13, 1975) and then in the 1979 book "Gaia: A new look at life on Earth". He hypothesized that the liv ...

Including:

• Gaia theory science - Range of views
• Gaia theory science - Gaia theories
• Gaia theory science - Early modern parallels
• Gaia theory science - Lovelock initial hypothesis
• Gaia theory science - Critical analysis
• Gaia theory science - Basis
• Gaia theory science - Criticism
• Gaia theory science - DaisyWorld simulations
• Gaia theory science - The First Gaia Conference
• Gaia theory science - Strong Gaia theories
• Gaia theory science - Semantic debate
• Gaia theory science - Recent Developments
• Gaia theory science - The Second Gaia Conference
• Gaia theory science - Gaia hypothesis in ecology

Read more here: » Gaia theory science: Encyclopedia - Gaia theory science

David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776*) was a philosopher and historian from Scotland. Along with Adam Smith and Thomas Reid, Hume was one of the most important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Many regard Hume as the third and most radical of the so-called British Empiricists, after the English John Locke and the Anglo-Irish George Berkeley. Historians most famously see Humean philosophy as a thoroughgoing form of Skepticism, but many commentators have argued that the element of naturalism has no less importance ...

Including:

• David Hume - Career
• David Hume - Legacy
• David Hume - Ideas and impressions
• David Hume - The problem of causation
• David Hume - The problem of induction
• David Hume - The bundle theory of the self
• David Hume - Practical reason: instrumentalism and nihilism
• David Hume - Moral anti-realism and motivation
• David Hume - Free will versus determinism
• David Hume - The is-ought problem
• David Hume - Utilitarianism
• David Hume - The problem of miracles
• David Hume - The design argument
• David Hume - Conservatism and political theory
• David Hume - Works

Read more here: » David Hume: Encyclopedia - David Hume

Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033 or 1034 – April 21, 1109), a widely influential medieval philosopher and theologian, held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the founder of Scholasticism, he is famous as the inventor of the ontological argument for the existence of God. Anselm of Canterbury - Biography. Anselm was born in the city of Aosta in the Kingdom of Burgundy. Aosta is located in the Italian Alps region of Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley), near the borders with twentieth c ...

Including:

• Anselm of Canterbury - Biography
• Anselm of Canterbury - Writings
• Anselm of Canterbury - Notes

Read more here: » Anselm of Canterbury: Encyclopedia - Anselm of Canterbury

The argument from irreducible complexity is a descendant of the teleological argument for God (the argument from design or argument from complexity). This states that because certain things in nature are very complicated, they must have been designed, just as the existence of a watch implies the existence of a watchmaker (in William Paley's famous argument of 1802). This argument has a long history and can be traced back at least as far as Cicero's De natura deorum, ii. ...

See also:

Irreducible complexity, Irreducible complexity - Definitions, Irreducible complexity - Stated examples, Irreducible complexity - Flagella, Irreducible complexity - Blood clotting cascade, Irreducible complexity - Forerunners, Irreducible complexity - Criticisms of irreducible complexity, Irreducible complexity - Gradual replacement, Irreducible complexity - Handicaps and sexual selection, Irreducible complexity - Falsifiability and experimental evidence, Irreducible complexity - Behe's own Criticisms, Irreducible complexity - God and Irreducible Complexity, Irreducible complexity - Claimed significance

Read more here: » Irreducible complexity: Encyclopedia II - Irreducible complexity - Forerunners

The argument from irreducible complexity is a descendant of the teleological argument for God (the argument from design or argument from complexity). This states that because certain things in nature are very complicated, they must have been designed, just as the existence of a watch implies the existence of a watchmaker (in William Paley's famous argument of 1802). This argument has a long history and can be traced back at least as far as Cicero's De natura deorum, ii. ...

See also:

Irreducible complexity, Irreducible complexity - Irreducible complexity IC, Irreducible complexity - Criticism, Irreducible complexity - Definitions, Irreducible complexity - Stated examples, Irreducible complexity - Flagella, Irreducible complexity - Blood clotting cascade, Irreducible complexity - Forerunners, Irreducible complexity - Criticisms of irreducible complexity, Irreducible complexity - Gradual replacement, Irreducible complexity - Handicaps and sexual selection, Irreducible complexity - Falsifiability and experimental evidence, Irreducible complexity - Behe's own Criticisms, Irreducible complexity - God and Irreducible Complexity, Irreducible complexity - Claimed significance

Read more here: » Irreducible complexity: Encyclopedia II - Irreducible complexity - Forerunners

c. 45 BC – Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC) made a teleological argument, anticipating the watchmaker analogy, in De natura deorum, ii. 34 When you see a sundial or a water-clock, you see that it tells the time by design and not by chance. How then can you imagine that the universe as a whole is devoid of purpose and intelligence, when it embraces everything, including these artifacts themselves and their artificer ...

See also:

History of creationism, History of creationism - Early history, History of creationism - Greek and Roman times, History of creationism - Renaissance to Darwin, History of creationism - Darwin, History of creationism - Differing beliefs, History of creationism - Early 20th century, History of creationism - Post-war, History of creationism - Intelligent design

Read more here: » History of creationism: Encyclopedia II - History of creationism - Greek and Roman times

Human civilization is currently somewhere below Type I, as it is able to harness only a portion of the energy that is available on Earth. The current state of human civilization has thus been named Type 0. Although intermediate values were not discussed in Kardashev's original proposal, Carl Sagan argued that they could easily be defined by interpolating the values given above. He calculated humanity's current civilization to be 0.7. He used a powe ...

See also:

Kardashev scale, Kardashev scale - Usage and examples, Kardashev scale - Possible timeline, Kardashev scale - Function as a teleology, Kardashev scale - Weakness by supposition?, Kardashev scale - Counter-argument: abundance of alternative sources, Kardashev scale - Civilization implications, Kardashev scale - Contact constraints, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical extensions, Kardashev scale - Fictional extensions, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical futures, Kardashev scale - Type I, Kardashev scale - Type II, Kardashev scale - Type III, Kardashev scale - Type IV & V, Kardashev scale - Current values, Kardashev scale - Literature describing different Kardashev Types, Kardashev scale - Connections with sociology and anthropology, Kardashev scale - Notes

Read more here: » Kardashev scale: Encyclopedia II - Kardashev scale - Usage and examples

It has been argued that, because we cannot understand advanced civilizations, we cannot predict their behavior; thus, Kardashev's visualization may not reflect what will actually occur for an advanced civilization. This central argument is found within the book Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life[1] It is also possible that the unique conditions on Earth allow for specific technologies to develop which w ...

See also:

Kardashev scale, Kardashev scale - Usage and examples, Kardashev scale - Possible timeline, Kardashev scale - Function as a teleology, Kardashev scale - Weakness by supposition?, Kardashev scale - Counter-argument: abundance of alternative sources, Kardashev scale - Civilization implications, Kardashev scale - Contact constraints, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical extensions, Kardashev scale - Fictional extensions, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical futures, Kardashev scale - Type I, Kardashev scale - Type II, Kardashev scale - Type III, Kardashev scale - Type IV & V, Kardashev scale - Current values, Kardashev scale - Literature describing different Kardashev Types, Kardashev scale - Connections with sociology and anthropology, Kardashev scale - Notes

Read more here: » Kardashev scale: Encyclopedia II - Kardashev scale - Weakness by supposition?

There are many historical examples of civilizations undergoing large-scale transitions, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance. The transition between Kardashev scale levels could potentially represent similarly dramatic periods of social upheaval, since they entail surpassing the hard limits of the resources available in a civilization's existing territory. A common speculation suggests that the transition from Type 0 to Type I might carry a strong risk of self-destruction since there would no longer be room for further expansion on the civilization's home planet. See ...

See also:

Kardashev scale, Kardashev scale - Usage and examples, Kardashev scale - Possible timeline, Kardashev scale - Function as a teleology, Kardashev scale - Weakness by supposition?, Kardashev scale - Counter-argument: abundance of alternative sources, Kardashev scale - Civilization implications, Kardashev scale - Contact constraints, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical extensions, Kardashev scale - Fictional extensions, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical futures, Kardashev scale - Type I, Kardashev scale - Type II, Kardashev scale - Type III, Kardashev scale - Type IV & V, Kardashev scale - Current values, Kardashev scale - Literature describing different Kardashev Types, Kardashev scale - Connections with sociology and anthropology, Kardashev scale - Notes

Read more here: » Kardashev scale: Encyclopedia II - Kardashev scale - Civilization implications

The exponential structure of the scale allows ready extrapolation to higher types. For example: Type IV: control of the energy output of a galactic supercluster; approximately 1046W. Type V: energy control over the entire universe; approximately 1056W. Such a civilization approaches or surpasses the limits of speculation based on current scientific understanding, and may not be possible. Frank J. Tipler's Omega point would presumably occupy this level. See also:

Kardashev scale, Kardashev scale - Usage and examples, Kardashev scale - Possible timeline, Kardashev scale - Function as a teleology, Kardashev scale - Weakness by supposition?, Kardashev scale - Counter-argument: abundance of alternative sources, Kardashev scale - Civilization implications, Kardashev scale - Contact constraints, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical extensions, Kardashev scale - Fictional extensions, Kardashev scale - Hypothetical futures, Kardashev scale - Type I, Kardashev scale - Type II, Kardashev scale - Type III, Kardashev scale - Type IV & V, Kardashev scale - Current values, Kardashev scale - Literature describing different Kardashev Types, Kardashev scale - Connections with sociology and anthropology, Kardashev scale - Notes

Read more here: » Kardashev scale: Encyclopedia II - Kardashev scale - Hypothetical extensions