Abstract
The Fine-Tuning Argument: Does Science Point to God?
The fine-tuning argument is a theistic argument which, based on the claim that if the initial conditions of our universe, the physical constants, and the laws of nature were slightly different, then the universe could not be life-permitting, states that the existence of our universe is evidence for the existence of a divine designer. In this paper, I defend the thesis that the fine-tuning argument presents no epistemic reason for a person who does not think that the existence of God is probable to accept that the existence of our universe is evidence for a designer. I argue that the fine-tuning argument can reinforce one’s belief in God, but, if a person is not already assigning high probability to the existence of God, then, based on the other premises of the fine-tuning argument, she should reject the claim that our universe is fine-tuned.
Keywords
Fine-tuning, theism, atheism, agnosticism, Bayesian evidence.
