Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    When we see a house, we can reasonably conclude it had an... — Carmelics
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Natural Theology
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    When we see a house, we can reasonably conclude it had an architect or builder

    CausationNatural Theology
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Houses are a species of effect we have repeatedly experienced
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Architects and builders are the species of cause we have experienced to produce houses
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Constant conjunction between this type of effect and this type of cause licenses reliable inference
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Causal inference from observed effects to unobserved causes requires that we have experienced the cause-effect pairing directly, not inferred it.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.In the case of the cosmos, we have never observed a universe being created, so the analogy to house-building lacks the required experiential basis.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Without repeated observations of cosmos-creation events, Hume's own regularity theory of causation disallows projecting the builder inference onto cosmological scale.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The house-architect inference succeeds only because houses are a proper subset of a class of objects for which we have exhaustive causal knowledge.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Extending this inference to unique or singular objects — like the universe itself — commits the fallacy of composition by treating part-whole relationships as symmetrical.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Kant argued in the Critique of Pure Reason that applying categories like causation beyond possible experience generates unavoidable antinomies, not knowledge.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Natural TheologyCausation

    Related

    Architects and builders are the species of cause we have experienced to produce ...Causal inference from observed effects to unobserved causes requires that we hav...Constant conjunction between this type of effect and this type of cause licenses...Extending this inference to unique or singular objects — like the universe itsel...
    +5 moreShow less
    Houses are a species of effect we have repeatedly experiencedIn the case of the cosmos, we have never observed a universe being created, so t...Kant argued in the Critique of Pure Reason that applying categories like causati...The house-architect inference succeeds only because houses are a proper subset o...Without repeated observations of cosmos-creation events, Hume's own regularity t...

    Similar

    Architects and builders are the species of cause we have experienced t...77%When a person builds a house, the person who formed the plan is assume...76%Human artifacts such as houses are often built by multiple people work...72%We can infer that the Pyramids had a maker even though we cannot see t...71%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: hume-religion
    View source passageHide passage
    In order to bring out the particular difficulties of the argument from design, and the way in which it has only the façade of ordinary experimental reasoning, Hume suggests the analogy of a house. When we see a house we naturally and reasonably conclude (i.e., with moral certainty) that “it had an architect or builder; because this is precisely that species of effect, which we have experienced to proceed from that species of cause” (D, 2.8/144). When we consider the universe, however, things are
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit