Each of the following is intended to be a refutation by logical analogy. Identify the argument being
Question:
Each of the following is intended to be a refutation by logical analogy. Identify the argument being refuted in each and the refuting analogy, and decide whether they do indeed have the same argument form.
Each of the multitude of universes may have different laws of nature. Or different values of quantities that determine how they behave, such as the speed of light. Some may be suitable for life, and some may not. All those suitable for life may have life develop. Sometimes life will evolve only into dinosaurs rather than something more intelligent. We cannot attach any meaning to the fact that a life form which could ask anthropic questions [questions about the properties that are essential for intelligent life] did develop in at least one universe. It is very much like a lottery. If you win the lottery, you may feel very grateful, but someone had to win, and no one selected who that was, except randomly. Just because a universe has a unique set of laws and parameters should not lead one to wonder whether that set was designed.
—Gordon Kane, “Anthropic Questions,”
Phi Kappa Phi Forum , Fall 2002
Step by Step Answer:
Introduction To Logic
ISBN: 9781138500860
15th Edition
Authors: Irving M. Copi, Carl Cohen, Victor Rodych