Phil Forum : Arguments for God

[Gnomon]

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussi ... ent/435608

The reason why I ask is because I cannot differentiate bad philosophy from good philosophy. — DoppyTheElv

Perhaps you'd appreciate a more straightforward account of the God Concept. Robert Wright, science writer & philosopher, has written a book --- The Evolution of God --- examining how human ideas about spirits & gods have evolved over millennia. It's not presented as a philosophical argument, but as a historical and psychological account of evolving human moral imagination.

He says that he is writing from a Materialist perspective. But he does not identify as an Atheist. Instead, while he believes that "God" is a "figment of human imagination", he also says, " I don't think that precludes the possibility that as ideas about God have evolved people have moved closer to something that may be the truth about ultimate purpose and ultimate meaning... " That is very close to my own understanding, since I too see signs of Teleology in Evolution --- along with Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Michael Shermer, The Moral Arc. The ancient First Cause argument is compatible with my own notion of how our world came to be, but I add some modern scientific information to my Enformationism worldview.

Robert Wright : . . . has a strictly materialist conception of natural selection; however, he does not deny the possibility of some larger purpose unfolding, that natural selection could itself be the product of design, in the context of teleology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wr ... ournalist)

[Gnomon]

Teilhard de Chardin’s writings are forgotten in name only. . . . Don't read him; he's naughty. The Pope says so. — Banno

Oh, but the naughty parts are the best parts.

Anyway, some 21st century scientists are finding (non-biblical) evidence for Teleology (directed evolution, downward causation) in the emerging complexity of the universe. For them, Evolution is viewed, not as a random flux of atoms, but as a self-directing "cybernetic system", otherwise known as a "complex adaptive system" or a "living organism".


Downward Causation : cybernetic evolution by "information selection and control".
From Matter To Life : Living Through Downward Causation by Farnsworth, Ellis, & Jaeger of Santa Fe Institute. A think tank for cutting edge science.
https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Life-Info ... mozilla-20

Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight : The Evolving Idea of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute
https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Hidden-Pl ... 8&qid=&sr=