Q&A: The Physico-Theological Argument
The Physico-Theological Argument
Question
In The First Existent (if I remember correctly), you made an analogy between things we know that were created by human beings (like a watch) and any complex thing: just as complex things we know were created by an intelligent designer, so too more complex things like the universe. But when the question was raised why God Himself was not created by an intelligent designer, you argued that this analogy applies only to things within our experience, and that regarding things outside our experience it is incorrect to say that complex things require an explanation. I didn’t really understand the reasoning behind this distinction. Why is the analogy valid only for things within our experience?
Answer
The assumption that a complex thing was produced intentionally and not by chance is not a result of experience, but an a priori (probabilistic) claim. But to avoid an infinite regress, there must be some being that starts the chain. It is reasonable that this is not a being within our experience, since those were created and are not eternal. Therefore there must be something outside our experience that starts this chain. But it too was not created by chance; rather, it was not created at all. If it had been created, I would argue that it too was created by an intelligent designer.
Discussion on Answer
Because our experience tells us that they are created beings. Even those not made by human beings were created.
Yes, but that itself is what I’m asking about. Clearly some being has to end the chain, but why assume specifically that it makes more sense that a being outside our experience is the one that was not created? Maybe there are also beings within our experience that were not created. After all, the analogy is not from all the things in our experience, but only from ‘beings’ that were created by human beings. Maybe it’s reasonable that complex ‘beings’ within our experience that were not created by human beings are the ones that began the chain?