The Argument from Design, Revolution and Fine-tuning: A Comparative Study of the Viewpoints of Swinburne and Mutahhari
Subject Areas : Philosophy
Keywords: : purposiveness, temporal order, spatial order, sufficient reason, efficient cause, final cause, probability, principle of credulity, principle of simplicity, fine-tuning argument, fine-tuning,
Abstract :
The argument from design for the existence of God has been considered by almost all religions and religious preachers. This is because of the persuasive power of this kind of argument. In the 18th century, Hume and some modern philosophers severely criticized the argument and the emergence of evolutionary views reinforced these criticisms. Recently, there has been a new version of the argument which presupposes the validity of evolutionary view and gives a consistent account of theism and theory of evolution. There are instances of this new effort among Christian and Muslim philosophers. Using physics, mathematics, biology, and complex probabilistic calculations, Richard Swinburne formed an inductive argument which claims that theism is consistent with the evolutionary viewpoint. Among Muslims, Murtiza Mutahhari not only believes in this consistency, but also maintains that the evolutionary viewpoint is the best interpretation of God’s purposefulness in the world. These two thinkers are different in respect of the level and form of their discussions, though the content and the results of their arguments seem akin.