Last week, we saw Davis give an argument for intelligent design based on the notion of 'fine-tuning'. Davis thinks that the fact that the physical constants of our universe are very precisely matched to allow life to function is surprising and needs to be explained.
But Cory Juhl argues in his paper that we should not find the evidence for fine-tuning surprising. He says that fine-tuning in the physical laws is to be expected once we know that life is 'causally ramified'. What does he mean by 'causally ramified'? How does he use this idea to argue his point?
He argues that everything in the world, whether living or not will appear finely tuned because of causal ramification; which is the fact that for something to be someplace, or to exist in certain state, a series of causal events must have happened, and if it had been any other way, that something wouldn't be there, or it would exist in a different state. I think of it as branches in a tree. The further up in the tree, the more the position of the branches depends on previous, bigger branches. So the little branches are in a sense finely tuned.
ReplyDeleteI like the analogy with the branches in a tree. Each branch, big or small, depends for its existence on the branches below it, on the trunk, and ultimately on the root system which feeds the whole structure. So we can think of the entire tree, as well as each branch and leaf as being causally ramified. Should we find that surprising?
ReplyDeleteThe more general question becomes: should the fact that anything whatsoever exists (us, rocks, trees, stars) be surprising?