Critique Of The Design Argument-Starting From Hume

This paper tries to present Dialogues concerning Natural Religion which is written in a dialogue style into a literary style.And along the logical structure of Hume,combined with the discussion of contemporary scholars,this paper examines whether Hume’s critique is still valid under the test of human new empirical evidence.Hume’s critique has three levels: 1.the design argument does not conform to the rules of analogical reasoning.On the one hand,analogical reasoning requires an empirical basis,but there is no experience in the origin of the universe;on the other hand,analogical reasoning requires highly similar analogical objects,but there is a great difference between the universe and machines.2.The design argument is a typical external-cause theory,which inevitably falls into an infinite retrogression predicament,and thus has to rely on the ontological argument.Self-cause theory does not have that trouble.Hume points out that order can come from matter itself.3.By using the method of fallacy,Hume points out that the design argument could not deduce a perfect God.He also points out that Epicurus paradox is an insurmountable logical paradox that the design argument will never overcome.Nowadays,in the field of biology,designers put forward the concept of CSI to demonstrate that order can only come from rational reasons,but natural selection theory can well explain the design phenomenon of biology,thus denies the CSI argument.In the field of cosmology,there is still no real scientific theory that can well explain the phenomenon of fine-tuning,thus designers and naturalists are still arguing.In a word,the new experience is increasing,and the designers always regard it as the proof of the existence of God,but logically,since no one can effectively refute Hume’s critique,the design argument is still untenable.The innovations of this paper are as follows: first,it systematically combs the logical structure of Dialogues concerning Natural Religion;second,it presents the contemporary discussions about the design argument that is based on the new experience.