can somebody please mark this essay for me? EDEXCEL AS RELIGIOUS STUDIES

THE QUESTION IS:

Examine the key features of the design argument(21 marks)
The Design argument looks at the order and purpose, or telos, in the world and states that it implies that there must be a designer who made the world for human existence. The argument states that if one uses one’s senses to look at order, such as gravity and the motion of the planets, which exists in the world, it is likely that one will accept that there is a designer God who created the world and gave it this order. Thus, the argument is both a posteriori, based on experience, and inductive, containing a conclusion that we are likely to accept if we believe the premises to be true.

The most popular way to argue for the existence of God in Paley’s day was by use of an analogy which is known as Design qua Analogy. Therefore, in Natural Theology, we see Paley comparing the world to a watch in order to prove that an intelligent designer God created the world. Paley states that if one came across a watch, one would be able to see that all of the cogs and hands worked together intricately for the purpose of telling the time. This would, Paley argues, lead one to believe that the watch must have been carefully put together by a human watchmaker. Paley compares the man-made watch to the human eye to further enhance his point. He states that just as the watch must have been created by an intelligent watchmaker to allow one to tell the time, so must the eye, with its intricate parts that would together so well to allow us to see, have been created by an intelligent designer God. This idea is an example of Design Qua Purpose.

Aquinas had his own form of the teleological argument shown in the fifth of his five ways, “the way of design”. He identified that that the way in which ‘Natural Bodies’ act in a regular fashion to accomplish their end provides the evidence for the existence of an externally and higher intelligent being, or to Aquinas. . . God. He argued that whatever lacked knowledge cannot move towards an end unless of course something else is directing it that has intelligence. He uses the classic example of the arrow and the archer .... the arrow is directed by the archer, meaning that some intelligent being exists that directs things to their end. In the same way that the archer directs the arrow, a being directs everything with its intelligence and of course Aquinas would call this being God.

The Design Argument has also been reformulated in modern times by Richard Swinburne by giving two versions of the argument. The first of these arguments is the Argument from Spatial Order, which examines the complexities of the world and uses these to point to the existence of God. However, Swinburne felt that a new version of the argument is needed in modern times, due to the rise of scientific thought and so puts forward a second version of the argument, the Argument from Temporal Order. This version uses the Anthropic Principle to argue that the order of the world and the scientific laws which allow for the conditions of life need to be explained. Swinburne, using Ockham’s Razor, states that the simplest and therefore best explanation for this order is that God created the world. the existence of such order adds greatly to the probability that there is a God.”

Reply 1

LucyQ

7

Do you know where I can find any design argument noted or resources? Sorry I don't know how to mark your essay

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Reply 2

IAmEchelon

3

Is this all you have to write for a 21 mark?

Reply 3

Hazard17

17

Original post by hawalovesyou

Examine the key features of the design argument(21 marks)

Original post by IAmEchelon

Is this all you have to write for a 21 mark?

Original post by LucyQ

Do you know where I can find any design argument noted or resources? Sorry I don't know how to mark your essay

Posted from TSR Mobile

ahhh i remember RS, good times. Loved the philosopical component of it all :biggrin:

(Ethics not so much haha)

Guys use "www.getrevising.co.uk" theres some brilliant notes on there which are super helpful. Also, to go for the higher marks, make sure you use examples in each of your answers, whether you're creative and use small analogies that you've made up or using real examples, it doesnt matter. Just prepare some examples to keep up your sleeve for every point you make. It'll show the examiner how well you understand the topic as well as being a fantastic revision tool too.

Synoptic links in paragraphs are also a must if you want to hit the A/A* grades. Mentioning and explaining how for example the "design argument" links to the "Ontological argument", "Miracles", "creation" or any other topics you have learnt boosts your exam score remarkably :smile:

Reply 4

IAmEchelon

3

Original post by Hazard17

ahhh i remember RS, good times. Loved the philosopical component of it all :biggrin:

(Ethics not so much haha)

Guys use "www.getrevising.co.uk" theres some brilliant notes on there which are super helpful. Also, to go for the higher marks, make sure you use examples in each of your answers, whether you're creative and use small analogies that you've made up or using real examples, it doesnt matter. Just prepare some examples to keep up your sleeve for every point you make. It'll show the examiner how well you understand the topic as well as being a fantastic revision tool too.

Synoptic links in paragraphs are also a must if you want to hit the A/A* grades. Mentioning and explaining how for example the "design argument" links to the "Ontological argument", "Miracles", "creation" or any other topics you have learnt boosts your exam score remarkably :smile:

Thank you!

Are you allowed to compare two topics? Like cosmological and design or situation ethics and utilitarianism?

Do you have any tips for the investigations paper?

Reply 5

Hazard17

17

Yes and no :smile:

Remember you have to answer the question! You can never go off topic but making small links between topics gets you into top marks. For example if you're answering a question on "how teleological ethical systems are able to help people make moral decisions" then itd be great to start a sentence describing situation ethics by saying "In a way that is similar to Utilitarianism, Situation ethics...blah blah blah"... see what i did there :wink:

Links between topics and case study examples will be the difference between the B grade students and the A/A*s.

id recommend spending a day looking at every past paper without actually doing the paper, simply plan what you'd write. For each argument you can think of, make sure you are able to back it up with an example, whether youve already been given some in your syllabus or whether you and find a random one by yourself. :biggrin:

Ive always seen all essay subjects as super easy as long as you know what you're going to write. The worst case scenario is coming across an unfamiliar question and your mind going completely blank. Writing technique etc all means nothing if youre unable to explain and provide examples in relation to a topic. So planning past paper questions is BY FAR the most important thing. Then just simply build on what you have already.

Hope i was useful :tongue:

also whats the investigations paper? i did AQA but from what ive been told, the modules and units in both exam boards are pretty much identical.

Reply 6

IAmEchelon

3

Original post by Hazard17

Yes and no :smile:

Remember you have to answer the question! You can never go off topic but making small links between topics gets you into top marks. For example if you're answering a question on "how teleological ethical systems are able to help people make moral decisions" then itd be great to start a sentence describing situation ethics by saying "In a way that is similar to Utilitarianism, Situation ethics...blah blah blah"... see what i did there :wink:

Links between topics and case study examples will be the difference between the B grade students and the A/A*s.

id recommend spending a day looking at every past paper without actually doing the paper, simply plan what you'd write. For each argument you can think of, make sure you are able to back it up with an example, whether youve already been given some in your syllabus or whether you and find a random one by yourself. :biggrin:

Ive always seen all essay subjects as super easy as long as you know what you're going to write. The worst case scenario is coming across an unfamiliar question and your mind going completely blank. Writing technique etc all means nothing if youre unable to explain and provide examples in relation to a topic. So planning past paper questions is BY FAR the most important thing. Then just simply build on what you have already.

Hope i was useful :tongue:

also whats the investigations paper? i did AQA but from what ive been told, the modules and units in both exam boards are pretty much identical.

It's like the coursework

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can somebody please mark this essay for me? EDEXCEL AS RELIGIOUS STUDIES

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