Q&A: Kant's Objections to the Physico-Theological Proof
Kant's Objections to the Physico-Theological Proof
Question
What does the Rabbi think about Kant's objections? Did he fail? How did the great Kant make such a serious mistake?
Answer
What exactly is this question asking? Which objections are you referring to? Are you expecting me to give an overview here of Kant's entire doctrine and the objections to it? In general, human beings, even the wisest among them, make mistakes from time to time.
Discussion on Answer
I still don't understand. After all, I don't accept those objections (see the third notebook). So why would I think that Kant failed here?
It seems to me that the Rabbi did not read the question correctly. He wasn't asking about the objections to Kant, but about Kant's own objections to the physico-theological proof. Kant argued that one should not compare living beings to a watch, because a watch is artificial, and the questioner claims that it's strange that Kant failed with such an erroneous objection, so perhaps there is something to that objection.
That is how I understand his words.
I see no difference whatsoever between something natural and something artificial. See the appendix to my book God Plays Dice regarding the claims of Elia Leibowitz.
Sorry. I'm talking only about the objections to the physico-theological argument, regarding the difference that a watch and an airplane, for example, are artificial as opposed to living beings.