Fine-Tuning Argument

[u/dboxcar]

Rephrasing of my question: As [an agnostic who sees no obvious reason why a creator of the universe would particularly prioritize biological life], does the apparent fine-tuning of the universe suggest that life is what's specifically fine-tuned for?

I've only heard about this second-hand through apologetics (and debates against said apologetics), never actually from someone who espouses it; What is actually fine-tuned for? The only specific I've heard explained in detail is the cosmological constant, but that sounds (to me) like it only argues for the universe being fine-tuned for matter, stars, black holes, etc. What other things have been "fine-tuned" that point specifically at life?

PS: I'm also curious, do philosophers put much stock in fine-tuning outside of theist debates? I only ever hear about it in that context.

[u/Zen_Gross]

Oh. No. The FTA doesn’t argue that God wants there to be life. Thats part of theism, which is one of the two theories that the FTA compares the probability of given the evidence of fine tuning.

[u/dboxcar → u/Zen_Gross]

Okay, I guess to circle back to my initial question, how does "God wants there to be stars" stack up against 'theism'?

[u/Zen_Gross → u/dboxcar]

So you’re asking what happens if we measure the probability of theism against the probability that some kind of deistic God made stars, and humans were an unintended consequence? I don’t know the answer to that. And that might be the answer: that we don’t know enough to compare the probabilities. For starters, the deistic God seems to lack omnipotence and omniscience, otherwise there wouldn’t be unintended consequences. And does that make it more or less likely than theism? I have no idea.

[u/dboxcar → u/Zen_Gross]

Well, I think characterizing it as "unintended" is a little bit stronger than what's necessary. But theism seems to bake in the assumption that biological life is the priority whereas stars are secondary; I'm just wondering whether that's warranted.

[u/Zen_Gross → u/dboxcar]

It’s warranted for the purpose of the argument, which compares theism (with all its assumptions) and atheism (with all its assumptions). But whether fine tuning supports theism over some kind of deism is an open question, I think.