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== Does anyone else think this whole article misses the point? == | |||
== Lead issues == | |||
===Lead too long=== | |||
Upon cursory review of this article, it appears the teleological argument is being lumped in with the watchmaker analogy and intelligent design. The teleological argument deals with unintelligent objects or beings acting toward a certain end unthinkingly. But it seems like it is being confused with the idea that God intervened at times to change something or with the argument from complexity. I think this article misses the entire point, but I would like public comment before I go editing all willy-nilly. <span style="background-color: maroon; padding: 2px 3px 1px 3px;">] ]</span> 16:48, 4 August 2022 (UTC) | |||
I agree that the lead is too long. It seems to deal with matters that are far too detailed for a lead. I propose that all the wording from "Since the 1960s ..." is moved to the article body.] (]) 13:37, 10 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:Over its history this article (and others related to it) have sometimes been difficult to edit because of the high political priority many Wikipedians give to making sure that Misplaced Pages makes all the definitions line up with the way they are recently used in specific American culture war debates which were hot when Misplaced Pages was young. That ''may'' be having an effect on whatever it is which is concerning you. But here are some questions: | |||
:Agree with this proposed shortening, since most if not all of the content is dealt with in more detail in the body text there probably isn't much to move there. . . ], ] 15:06, 10 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:*Do you have a good source for the idea that the teleological argument is specifically about ''unintelligent'' objects or beings acting toward a certain end unthinkingly? I can see how it might be argued, but I don't think I've ever seen the unintelligent aspect being emphasized and I am not sure why we would need to do that. For most readers it might become very confusing, without really changing the meaning? | |||
:*It is also not so clear how this would make it different from the watchmaker argument and "intelligent design" in the broad old sense? Can you explain the distinction(s) you are making? | |||
:*It does sound right to me that this article should not imply that the teleological argument is "the idea that God intervened at times to change something". (I guess that is a reference to Intelligent Design in those specific recent culture wars debates?) But does this article imply that definition? Can you explain where? | |||
:*What are you seeing in the article which confuses it with "argument from complexity"? Are you sure this is worth changing?--] (]) 19:58, 4 August 2022 (UTC) | |||
:ID movement and teleological-argument theistic apologetics are not synonymous but they overlap ] (]) 14:40, 18 October 2022 (UTC) | |||
:I agree the article (starting with the first line) conflates an argument using ] (the end) with one based on complexity or design which is ] (the means) and not teleology. The article also narrows it as if such arguments are always about the existence of God. | |||
:But I’m also thinking such confusion of the means with the ends is so common as to be the norm, and that the existence of God association is so far the greatest ] of coverage that arguments which actually use teleology would not get much space here. Perhaps it would better suit to have See Also links to such areas, e.g. ], ], ], and ] (law). It might be nice to have an explanation for the abstract inductive vs deductive approach, but the WEIGHT just isn’t there. | |||
:Cheers ] (]) 21:33, 6 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
::Whatever we do it will need to be based on a balancing of the different approaches found in reliable sources, and we also have to keep in mind that there is a quite different article called "]" which focuses on the specific story of a version of this argument which we know from recent culture war debates. Currently this article is covering all the older variants. It is not really clear from your remarks what types of changes you would like to see, and how you would source them, but I take it you want the differences to be more clear. I have not looked at it for a while but I believe one problem is that reliable sources tend to use these terms in different ways. Currently the discussions of different approaches is split up chronologically, looking at specific proponents etc.--] (]) 17:27, 7 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::] my comment said the only option I could see was adding some See Also to more technically correct uses of the term. Mistakenly saying teleology is design or that natural theology is it are so common as to be the WEIGHT here. It does not matter that academically the teleological argument is literally a phrase meaning talk about the end result. It does not matter that teleology is nothing about design nor about complexity. It does not matter that natural theology has many parts and only one is Aquinas use of a teleological argument as one of his proofs for the existence of God. It does not matter if Socrates use of it was about an unintelligent acorn. The association by many repetitions, however technically mistaken it may be for philosophy, is so dominant that I cannot see changing the body of this article and we just accept it does not match academic works. (e.g. or or others.) Cheers ] (]) 18:45, 23 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
::::I understand that like me you aren't making any big proposals at the moment, but I was wondering if I could tease a more detailed explanation out of you of what your comments really mean in detail. Maybe it is relevant to other articles in the long term. I realize that Aquinas distinguished several different arguments but some of them seem to be equivalent. (Or that is a frequent reading.) Interesting that you cite Sedley. I've also tended to see him as a good source here. Can you point to a line or passage which explains your point?--] (]) 22:35, 23 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::::] I had no particular line in mind. In general, my point is that the literal meaning of “teleological argument” is just an argument based on teleology, and I offered some candidates of such for See Also links that are not about proving God exists. The most famous teleological argument is the Quinta Via of Aquinas in ], which is about proving God exist and became known as “the” teleological argument, perhaps confused as if that’s the only one. As said at ] even that one has nothing to do with design or complexity. Hopefully this helps. Cheers ] (]) 07:16, 25 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
::::::Just my thoughts. No response necessary unless you think I am totally misunderstanding. Design means "intention" in these discussions, or in other words it means there is not only intelligence but also that the intelligences has ends (teloi). Complexity comes into the discussion because when complexity is observed which is not just a random mess, but something which looks organized and systematic, this supposedly implies that intelligence with ends. So no matter what we think of them, it is hard to handle these arguments separately because they are so commonly linked in such ways.--] (]) 08:50, 25 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
:::::::Mmm, think design or intelligence may or may not be present in individual cases of teleological arguments, but to be clear these are not the teleology part and a teleological argument may exist with one or both or neither. The acorn or other ] has no intelligence nor design, but looks at a final end (telos) anyway. The ] and ] has an intelligence looking at that final ends (result), but without a specific design of a mechanism. And of course one can have a design or intent without complexity. I don’t think these are inherently linked, but that since they are commonly confused and mistakenly said to be the same that the article cannot ignore that de facto they are taken as synonyms. cheers Cheers ] (]) 05:59, 26 February 2023 (UTC) | |||
== Minor description. == | |||
===Lead citations=== | |||
<nowiki>{{collapse top|Section is now entirely one editor accusing others of bad faith. See ], ] and ].]}} | |||
Also, the wording "more generally of some kind of intelligent agent of creation, based upon proposed empirical evidence of human-like design or purpose in nature" seems odd. The words "empirical evidence" do not appear on p. 261 of the cited source. On a minor point, the words "some kind of" seem unnecessary. We need a better source for this assertion. ] (]) 13:13, 10 April 2014 (UTC)</nowiki> | |||
::I have deactivated your collapse, and I note for the record that it contains a dishonest ad hominem summary of the discussion it seeks to hide, plus a comment which makes no sense unless there is something needing to be read in the collapsed part. The discussions you want to hide contained expressions of concern about sourcing, as well as replies to those concerns and expressions of concern about the sequence of events leading to the edits and expressions of concerns; and expressions of concerning about lead writing formats. All these things should stay on record, and might come up again. Indeed Gaba P made "warning", as usual, to the fact that the discussion might be relevant to wikidrama also. Why should you be allowed to hide my self defense, and attempts to avoid having my edits and positions badly distorted, and replace it with a distortion aimed to cover up what really happened? The fact that the discussion contains descriptions of the editing sequences that raise doubts about the good faith and editing judgement of at least one editor does not mean that even those edits are covered by the policies you mention.--] (]) 12:16, 13 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:::Andrew, you're the one editor making repeated personal attacks and refusing to assume good faith. This is very unwise of you, please desist and focus on article improvements, not on other editors. . . ], ] 15:55, 13 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
::::Dave, I have also reverted your collapse. How can it be acceptable to not only collapse a supposedly off topic discussion, but also insert a response which obviously seeks to distort how the discussion went below? To repeat, it is obvious that what you want to hide is my summary of the series of editing events you were involved in, as well as the response to your obviously fabricated pseudo concerns. Obviously if the concerns were ever real, then this discussion is very relevant for editors to see. I do not have to assume good faith, and neither do others. And just to confirm what I have said several times: I interpret these types of posts were you and Gaba P give advice about how I am not being wise as something that you and the other defenders of the current ID article do very often as a way to threaten and bully less experienced editors. I think when put in perspective as something you do often, it is disgraceful. If you want the legitimacy of your bullying judged by the broader community then bring it to a neutral forum, instead of posting such veiled threats all the time. Of course you know what the community thinks of this way of threatening and bullying. It is one of the oldest tricks in the book and not going to go far with more experienced editors.--] (]) 22:12, 15 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
@], The body does not necessarily have to state it. It's common sense, really, regarding how teleology works.(]) It relies on reason rather than revelation. Whether the reasoning is convincing or unconvincing is another matter entirely, but the inherent nature of the argument is obvious. | |||
How about this from the OED: "argument from design n. Theol. an argument for the existence of an intelligent creator (usually identified as God) based on perceived evidence of deliberate design in the natural or physical world" ] (]) 13:42, 10 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:While I don't have a secondary source immediately to hand commenting on this point, Paley's implies that the argument can be used to show the attributes of ] as well as being an argument for His existence. . ], ] 15:49, 10 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
The lead already has this line "''While the concept of an intelligence behind the natural order is ancient, a '''rational argument''' that concludes that we can know that the natural world has a designer, or a creating intelligence which has human-like purposes, appears to have begun with classical philosophy.''" | |||
As noted in my , the claimed term "argument from intelligent design" is not supported by the cited source, , which explicitly refers to the current ''"intellectual and political aspirations of so-called intelligent-design theorists. Their confidence in a particular form of the design argument is so strong that they believe it should be taught in high school science classes as a check on the pretensions of evolutionary theory."'' <br>This is clearly the DI's ID, and it's a good source for the point that ID is a particular form of the design argument, not the generic argument. It's also a source for the generic term "design argument" which should really be bolded in our lead alongside teleological argument and argument from design.<br>It's plausible that some sources use "argument from intelligent design" to refer to the generic argument, but a good citation is needed giving evidence that exactly that phrase has significant usage. . . . . ], ] 15:28, 10 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
Nonetheless, here are few sources: <ref>{{cite web |title=Teleological Arguments for God’s Existence |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/teleological-arguments/ |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=June 10, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Induction Task – Phil Unit 1.1 Summer prep The Teleological Argument |url=https://marlingsixthform.org/media/DOC5D2C53D60EE1C/Religious_Studies_independent_Study_Philosophy%20Task_.pdf |publisher=The Teleological Argument (the argument from design) Marling Sixth Form |access-date=August 10, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Teleological argument summary notes |url=https://alevelphilosophyandreligion.com/the-teleological-design-argument/the-teleological-argument-summary-notes/ |website=A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies |access-date=August 10, 2024}}</ref> Though, I would argue, we don't need to put the sources on the lead.(]) ] (]) 12:40, 10 August 2024 (UTC) | |||
::Dave, as already mentioned in my edit comments here, and on the talk page at Intelligent Design (in the discussion which inspired you to come here and start tagging), you wrote the current lead more than anyone, and so you should know that no one is claiming that the source you mention is the source for those specific words. (I have not checked but probably you inserted that source.) Furthermore this talk page's archives show you recently stating in clear terms that you agree this wording is sourceable. The source is easy to copy and paste if it is needed. I can forgive you for forgetting that, but (a) I find it silly that you did this as a way to make a point about a discussion on another article (which you then announced there). And (b) I find it even sillier that I already explained the history of this wording and sourcing and you are playing dumb and pretending you do not know the answer to your pointy point. Great to see that you also brought your human bot edit warrior over to this article with you. Anyway, there is nothing stopping anyone putting the source in, so putting in a tag instead is plain dumb, but the question I already raised, as you know, is whether we need to put a footnote on every word choice. I assume you are saying "yes" but on what possible grounds? The whole structure of this discussion makes it sound like we are only allowed to use exact words from sources, but that would be ]. On WP, demands like this are normally considered a classic sign of "]". It would be easy to ruin any article if every unsourced word could be tagged.--] (]) 07:11, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
::Rational'''ISM''' is clearly more than just anything involving a rational argument. It also can't be defined as an opposite of "revelation". For a start you can read the article about it on WP which you link to. Using an -ISM means we connect this argument to a specific movement within philosophy, which would I think confuse and mislead. None of the sources you cite mention the word "Rationalism", and two of them are not valid sources according to WP norms.--] (]) 15:44, 10 August 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::Andrew, please cut out this ] stuff and ]. These were introducing a term that lacks any source. It was disappointing to find that this defining term in the lead was unsourced. Once again, please provide a good citation giving evidence that the exact phrase "argument from intelligent design" has significant usage as a term for the teleological argument. . ], ] 08:03, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:::In that case perhaps, we could use "''is a ] argument for''". And instead of linking to the movement, we could simply link rationality as a quality of the argument. That could work. ] (]) 23:08, 10 August 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::Dave AGF is not relevant here. Facts are facts, and I am just describing them. You really did come here from a discussion on another article, put a tag on a sentence you are responsible for and which you knew the sourcing for (and which is already sourced on talk page discussions and in the body of the article), and then go back to the other article and make your pointy announcement. And concerning your battlefield accusations, please do not once again try to create false impressions as you have done on my talkpage. As you know from those discussions on the ID article, I am not referring to Myrvin as your bot, but Gaba P. Again what I mean by that has been explained and is just a fact. Gaba P's edits are all kneejerk edits defending your positions, and on talk pages Gaba P's posts never show any interest or knowledge in the subjects of the articles. This happens over and over again, so even if you do not want it to happen, it would be just silly to pretend that it is a major factor in everything that happens where you are. It brings down the quality of Misplaced Pages and you should feel bad about it, and want it to stop. It is very relevant to everything because your manner of discussion shows that you now quite used to the fact that there are people who are going to go to war for you whenever you say you want something or don't want something, even reverting copyedits for you. Back to the subject, I am sure you can copy and paste the source from this talkpage where you have discussed it in recent times, or from the body of the article where it should be, ''if you think it needed''. Putting a tag on the sentence however is ''purely tendentious'' because by this point there is no way at all that you can still claim not to know the source. The choice is up to you as usual. But please do not make up little stories in order to blame others for your own poor editing on the articles you dominate. | |||
:::: |
::::That is a step in the right direction. But are there such things as deliberately irrational arguments? I mean when we say that an argument is irrational, we mean it was done wrongly, don't we? Invalid? So what is the word "rational" adding here? Do we think our readers will be confused and think that an "argument for X" might actually be an argument which deliberately aims to work in an irrational way?--] (]) 23:29, 10 August 2024 (UTC) | ||
:::::It's true that most arguments aim to be rational. But, I think that since we are talking about a religious argument, it underscores the argument's intention to appeal to reason and logic rather than emotion or faith alone, which is important in distinguishing it from other types of arguments for God's existence, such as fideistic or purely theological arguments. I think it clarifies this aspect for the readers early on. ] (]) 00:02, 11 August 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::Word of advice {{u|Andrew Lancaster}}: one more ] like or the one in your above comment and I'll be seeking administrator intervention. You'd be wise to ] and drop the name-calling from now on. Consider yourself warned. | |||
:::::As for the issue at hand regarding the lead, Dave explained it above quite succinctly. The term "intelligent" was shoe-horned by you (at least) twice into the lead and it simply needs sourcing, otherwise it will have to be removed (that's how WP works in case you are still not aware). So if you have a source then present it and we can move on. Regards. ] <sup><font color="green">]</font></sup> 15:50, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
::::::Gaba, I'm concerned that if this precise term only appears in one source we could be synthesising an appearance of significance from an isolated instance: that's why I'm asking for evidence that the exact phrase "argument from intelligent design" has significant usage, so that we don't give undue weight to a minority view. We can of course discuss references in this talk page, . . ], ] 16:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
::::::::Found a new reasoning Dave? Dave if that was your reasoning, you should have stated it up front and you should not have pretended not to have been involved in the original discussions on this talk page which led to that wording. If you find the terminology simply not notable it is better to remove it than to tag bomb or over-source the lead. I still find the chain of events very remarkable though. Because clearly you came here from a debate in another article, placed the tags and then went back to that debate with remarks that distort the situation here, apparently all in order to score a point out of it. Only later have your developed a new "concern", and that concern (notability) is now a pretty minor one and also one which actually could not have been resolved by simply finding a source (which we already had)! So the tag was always quite wrong. Honestly, I see no other way to describe what happened. Poor judgement. | |||
::::::::Gaba, I note the usual threats that you make whenever anyone describes reality, and I note that you still show no interest or understanding in the actual subject matter of the discussion. Do you do anything else on Misplaced Pages than try to muscle people around in the name of causes? I do not recall you ever posting anything which showed any understanding or interest in the subjects of the articles involved. I only see you make ad hominem talk page edits like this one, in a pattern which strongly appears to be factional (always taking particular sides) rather than based on whatever is happening in a specific context. Honestly I do not believe I am saying anything controversial if I say that such an editing pattern is one that would make most people in this community uncomfortable.--] (]) 17:47, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::{{u|Dave souza}} agreed, the source should of course be as clear as possible to avoid ] and ]. | |||
:::::::::{{u|Andrew Lancaster}}: 1- you can describe "reality" without the ]s, that's an advice you should take to heart if you wish your WP editing to continue, 2- if you think that simply asking for a source is to "''muscle people around''" then you are in the wrong place my friend, 3- "''ad hominem talk page edits''", please go read ] because you clearly do not understand what it means (your name calling for instance is a clear ad-hominem), 4- I'm sorry that my asking for sources makes you uncomfortable. You know how you could put this to an end? Simple: instead of writing '''6.2 Kbs''' of text ''today'' you should have presented the source you based your edit in. I'll give you one more chance to come up with at least one ] source for your edit, otherwise I'll remove it from the lead. Regards. ] <sup><font color="green">]</font></sup> 20:32, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::::Gaba P, no Dave's concern has changed to notability: he says finding a single source is not good enough for his new real concern. You should read more carefully. To make it very clear, I understand your position like this: you are an habitual bully on Misplaced Pages and you are used to threatening people by implying that you are going to get them in trouble whenever they do something you don't like, such as post too many words on a talk page that disagree with the editors you think you agree with. How many times have I seen you try this now? Would it be a couple of times a month that you do this? But what you are not used to is sticking with a discussion and trying to understand it. Honestly, I can not remember once when you wrote a post or made an edit which proved that you read the subject matter you are policing. (Counting kilobytes is not reading.) This pattern is so absolutely stark that there are no pleasing ways to describe it. Of course when there are editors doing this then all discussion is difficult, but at least some of us are talking about writing an encyclopedia. ''Communication is what the talk pages are meant to be for right?'' Is it reasonable to demand that posts be kept short for every subject on WP? | |||
::::::::::::You will not have noticed it, but I have already said my main concern here is not proving there is a source, which is only a pointy demand, given that it was only recently discussed by the very person demanding it (try typing "from intelligent design" in the archive search box, or perhaps read this article which you suddenly have such strong opinions about). I have no real attachment to whether the words stay or not anyway. I just say that deleting the words is better than filling the lead with pointy tags and thickets of over-sourcing, as are found already in the article where this pointyness started in the first place.--] (]) 21:43, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
{{od}}"''I have no real attachment to whether the words stay or not anyway''", if you had said this from the start you could have saved us all a lot of time. I'm removing the word then.</br> | |||
Here's some friendly advice for you Andrew (this is not a threat in any way, shape or form): you should '''really''': a- stop using talk pages as a ], b- stop issuing ] on other editors and c- start figuring ways to reduce your incessant ]. Your inability to see how disruptive your talk page editing is (mainly in the ] article) will eventually, and I dare say ''almost certainly'', lead to you be either blocked or topic banned. Unlike what you might think I have no desire to see you under neither restriction, I do however would very much like to see you address the three concerns I mentioned above. Regards. ] <sup><font color="green">]</font></sup> 22:25, 11 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
::Gaba of course I understand your "advice" as being a veiled threat, as always. But you do not even see how ridiculous this situation is, which is not good for Misplaced Pages. | |||
::*You came here to ''demand'' an edit you ''still'' do not really know the pros and cons of. You apparently only know Dave seemed to demand a source. | |||
::*Every post of yours has contained a "friendly warning", as is your way. You almost seem unable to write anything on a talkpage without them. | |||
::*Not only do you not know the background, but you also don't read my replies, nor Dave's, properly, so even now you are still working based on a very incomplete understandings of this situation as a simple missing source. | |||
::*And you are now even blaming me for not helping you understand, when you clearly never wanted to. | |||
::If you do the search I suggested you'll see that Dave previously recently felt the words sourceable. And just because I have inserted them at some point, based on such talk page discussions, does not mean I have been fighting for them as you seem to assume. These two facts make your demands appear to be based on a wrong understanding. What I was really saying I was concerned about is constant and I accept no responsibility for you not reading: | |||
::*that we should not rush to make pointy edits such as tag-bombing or demanding sourcing for every word in a lead | |||
::*that we should certainly not be jumping from one article to another and inserting tags etc when we do not even have the time or interest to check the background | |||
::I stick by those points, but I take it you are not interested.--] (]) 04:24, 12 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
:::See ]. . . . ], ] 07:14, 12 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
::::See ]. We recently discussed the source. You said you accepted there was sourcing. I have reminded you of it, and told Gaba what search terms to use (as if that was necessary). It is also in the body. You have not disagreed with any of those things and I think it is pretty bloody clear that you are now are playing a game. But why? You have also very recently turned to say that re-naming only one source does not reply to your concern anyway. Furthermore I am not during this discussion defending the wording or source, I've said that over and over and I my concern about cynical tagging, poor lead formatting habits you have, and editing patterns (tag team editing; tagging here purely to score points in a discussion elsewhere etc). You pretend you do not understand this perhaps because you don't what it pointed to but why not just stop doing it? Also see ]. Dave don't you find that life is too short for this kind of thing? Where are you trying to go with this? Are my positions really so scary to you that you feel this need to constantly distort everything I say even in a simply case like this?--] (]) 22:54, 12 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
{{reflist-talk}} | |||
== Belgian references == | |||
== GA concerns == | |||
Some links for books refer to Belgian Google - see ref 14: Creationism and Its Critics in Antiquity url= http://books.google.be/books?id=SgRuJEfzUG8C | |||
I am concerned that this article no longer meets the ]. Some of my concerns are listed below: | |||
For the English WP, these should surely be to the English Google. ] (]) 14:40, 12 April 2014 (UTC) | |||
*The article contains uncited statements. | |||
== Augustine of Hippo == | |||
*The article relies upon quotes and block quotes in some sections. This creates copyright concerns and makes the article more difficult to read and connect ideas. | |||
Is anyone willing to address these concerns, or should this go to ]? ] (]) 19:09, 7 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
:If GA discussions lead to every statement needing a footnote, and no blockquotes that let readers see more clearly what was said, then they are pushing for a style of writing which is the opposite of what would be considered good in high quality writing about historical or philosophical topics. If there are specific statements that deserve better citation, and your aim is to improve '''quality''', then why not just say ''which'' statements, in a clear and concise manner? Seems easy enough.--] (]) 21:18, 7 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
::{{re|Andrew Lancaster}} Sorry that I did not respond to this sooner: I did not see it on my watchlist. The ] requires that every statement be supported by a citation. This does not mean every sentence needs a footnote, as a footnote can ] information in previous sentences. However, it does mean that there should be a footnote at the end of each paragraph, with some exceptions (like the lead, which usually does not have citations per ]). If you would like, I can add "citation needed" tags to the article to indicate where the citations are needed. | |||
::As for the block quotes: per ] "Using too many quotes is incompatible with an encyclopedic writing style and may be copyright infringement, and so most of the content should be in the editor's own words." In my opinion, this article uses too many block quotes which makes it difficult for the reader to understand the point that is trying to be conveyed in each block quote. Please ping me in responses so that I can reply more quickly. ] (]) 23:18, 29 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::] I doubt the article should ever have received GA status, but I also don't see that as an important priority. What would be far worse would be rushed deletions and tag bombing driven by formal criteria and drive-by editors not interested in the specific issues connected to the article topic and its sources. I am sure the article can and should be improved, but the two recommendations you make are too crude and rushed to be helpful. Acting quickly on them would not be a good idea. If you want to remove GA status please just do so. If you also have more detailed comments these might certainly help in the longer run. But I see no point assuming that we should rush to react on those just to save a GA status. | |||
:::*The article contains a lot of citations, so tag bombing would be a very bad idea. If there are specific sentences or sections with problems, then please do the necessary work and explain those in detail. The last thing this article needs though would be an influx of pro forma B-grade citations, rushed in to save a GA status. If a controversial sentence has no citation, then there should not just be a rush to stick a footnote on it, but also careful consideration about whether the sentence is justified or needs tweaking. | |||
:::*I think your block opposition to block quotes is "personal taste", and not a real WP "law". Broad guidelines like the ones you cite should be used in a sensitive and flexible way, looking at the best sources and controversies, and trying to find the best ways of explaining clearly, and avoiding misunderstandings. In the long run a better version of this article might involve fewer block quotes but removing them quickly as part of a drive to save a GA status would be a bad idea. This specific article covers a difficult and controversial topic. It has been a lot worse, and it could be a lot worse again. I do not want to say that drive-by editing is never useful, but it would always ''support'' "real editing", and by real editing I mean editing which has to be driven by the nature of the topic, including common misunderstandings and controversies, and the materials published about it. For example, for some "history of philosophy" topics, the best academic works compare and contrast the classic "block quotes". The best sources about this specific topic are in effect typically structured around a series of important quotes that secondary sources tend to interpret in different ways. Quotation of the originals is therefore often advisable. This could perhaps be done more subtly, but when they are in a rush Misplaced Pages editors often collect low quality sources from the internet like magpies, and these are particularly problematic for some history of philosophy topics. Such lower level works are often distorted by culture wars, and low level professional debates between academics who do not themselves spend much time on the classical sources they seek to enlist and distort for whatever their position is. If we want to discuss Aristotle then we should for example cite Aristotle experts, people whose work is often structured around block quotes, and not whichever academics are easiest to find online. | |||
:::In summary I don't think that GA status should be used here to encourage rushed editing. This could easily make the article worse. I strongly prefer that discussions about the article content should be based on careful and specific discussions, looking at specific sentences and sections, and the best sources. --] (]) 08:23, 30 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::{{re|Andrew Lancaster}} I am not going to discuss each individual sentence that might need a citation on the talk page, as I do not have that much interest in this article. Per ], information on Misplaced Pages needs to be cited, and if it is not it might be removed. I don't want to do that, as the information might be useful. Would you be able to look at the uncited statements in the article and add sources to them? ] (]) 15:19, 30 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::Misplaced Pages is made by volunteers working without a ]. When working properly they are spending time on each sentence by looking at multiple sources, and carefully weighing up the options. I have not looked at this article for a long time, and neither has anyone else as far as I can tell, and I do have other things I need to do. If you can name specific concerns then I can possibly work quickly, but if you are saying you just looked quickly and counted too few footnotes, then sorry but I don't think this is really a high priority right now. If you were to move from threatening to remove GS status, which is fine, to deleting sentences in order to make a ], even when you admit not to have checked if they might be worth keeping, then I would call that disruptive editing. Drive by editors are only playing a positive role on WP if they support real editing. Imposing deadlines and making disruption threats is not going to help this type of article, so if you want to remove the GA status, please just do it. --] (]) 15:30, 30 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::{{re|Andrew Lancaster}} An article does not have to have a GA designation. If no one is actively updating an article, and it is far from meeting the criteria, then it might be best to delist it for now and re-nominate it when it meets the criteria again. My concerns are not just a couple uncited statements, but several sentences and paragraphs with uncited prose, including uncited block quotes. I also am concerned that some sections need to be expanded, such as "Fideism and rejection of natural theology". If anyone is willing to work on this, I am happy to re-review when the concerns are addressed. If no one is willing to work on it, I will nominate it to GAR in the hopes that someone will adopt the article and improve the article. I have added cn tags to the article to help highlight where citations are missing. ] (]) 14:54, 2 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::{{re|Z1720}} thank you for making some of your concerns more specific and concrete, because ''that'' can potentially help. As to the GA status I still doubt this article ever really deserved it. I see it as being in a different phase of development for now.--] (]) 15:51, 2 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::::{{re|Andrew Lancaster}} I am happy to do a more thorough review once the above are addressed. ] (]) 19:00, 2 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::{{re|Andrew Lancaster}} Are you still planning on working on this, or should this go to ]? ] (]) 03:31, 23 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::{{re|Z1720}} my apologies if I gave the wrong impression. My feeling is that this article is too far from GA level to stress over, and it should loose that status without further ado. I don't think any push to gain it can be very constructive in the short run because this article is too far from that level, and needs a different type of editing effort which is difficult to trigger like this. It is in a building up phase, and needs people interested in the topic to find time and energy. In terms of concrete feedback what you've mentioned so far is the section ''Fideism and rejection of natural theology'' which you think should be expanded. I am not intending to work on that at the moment. Your remark about unsourced materials is a bit strange to me. I don't think every sentence needs a footnote, so if you see specific ones then maybe you can tag them. I also don't see blockquotes without citations except in the Fine-tuned Universe section. I am also not intending to work on that. These sections can't be done quickly by me. (I did not create either of these sections FWIW.) In any case I think many bits of this article were probably meant as placeholders for future improvement, by people interested in the topic, and there is in principle nothing wrong with that. More concrete feedback or tags might draw more editors to help, but basically when an article is at this growing and forming phase the main thing to remember is that we are relying on a limited number of potential volunteers who are interested in this topic, and they have no deadline.--] (]) 08:17, 23 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
:::::::::::{{re|Andrew Lancaster}} Would you be willing to bring this to ], as you can outline the concerns better than I can? ] (]) 20:48, 23 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
::::::::::::This discussion is initiated by you, and to be honest I can't follow what concerns are driving your continuing posts. GA is NOT my concern, but yours, and as far as I can tell ONLY yours. It is not IMHO normal for people interested in GA status to act like this. MY concern is that if you have no interest in this topic, you should please leave the article alone, and of course if necessary get rid of the GA status. It is IMHO indeed not an article at GA level, but simply one which still needs to a different kind of work. It does not need "polishing". It needs more basic work sorting our the raw materials, by people interested in the topic.--] (]) 21:44, 23 December 2024 (UTC) | |||
==GA Reassessment== | |||
Ruse (!) notes in 'Darwin and Design' that Augustine makes some mention of such an argument. I found it in 'City of God': "the | |||
{{Misplaced Pages:Good article reassessment/Teleological argument/1}} | |||
world itself, by its well-ordered changes and movements, and by the fair appearance of all visible | |||
things, bears a testimony of its own, both that it has been created, and also that it could not have | |||
been created save by God, whose greatness and beauty are unutterable and invisible." I think we should use this. ] (]) 08:29, 13 April 2014 (UTC) |
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Does anyone else think this whole article misses the point?
Upon cursory review of this article, it appears the teleological argument is being lumped in with the watchmaker analogy and intelligent design. The teleological argument deals with unintelligent objects or beings acting toward a certain end unthinkingly. But it seems like it is being confused with the idea that God intervened at times to change something or with the argument from complexity. I think this article misses the entire point, but I would like public comment before I go editing all willy-nilly. Kringga talk 16:48, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
- Over its history this article (and others related to it) have sometimes been difficult to edit because of the high political priority many Wikipedians give to making sure that Misplaced Pages makes all the definitions line up with the way they are recently used in specific American culture war debates which were hot when Misplaced Pages was young. That may be having an effect on whatever it is which is concerning you. But here are some questions:
- Do you have a good source for the idea that the teleological argument is specifically about unintelligent objects or beings acting toward a certain end unthinkingly? I can see how it might be argued, but I don't think I've ever seen the unintelligent aspect being emphasized and I am not sure why we would need to do that. For most readers it might become very confusing, without really changing the meaning?
- It is also not so clear how this would make it different from the watchmaker argument and "intelligent design" in the broad old sense? Can you explain the distinction(s) you are making?
- It does sound right to me that this article should not imply that the teleological argument is "the idea that God intervened at times to change something". (I guess that is a reference to Intelligent Design in those specific recent culture wars debates?) But does this article imply that definition? Can you explain where?
- What are you seeing in the article which confuses it with "argument from complexity"? Are you sure this is worth changing?--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 19:58, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
- ID movement and teleological-argument theistic apologetics are not synonymous but they overlap FatalSubjectivities (talk) 14:40, 18 October 2022 (UTC)
- I agree the article (starting with the first line) conflates an argument using teleology (the end) with one based on complexity or design which is deontology (the means) and not teleology. The article also narrows it as if such arguments are always about the existence of God.
- But I’m also thinking such confusion of the means with the ends is so common as to be the norm, and that the existence of God association is so far the greatest WP:WEIGHT of coverage that arguments which actually use teleology would not get much space here. Perhaps it would better suit to have See Also links to such areas, e.g. Teleological behaviorism, Teleological ethics, Teleological language in biology, and Teleological interpretation (law). It might be nice to have an explanation for the abstract inductive vs deductive approach, but the WEIGHT just isn’t there.
- Cheers Markbassett (talk) 21:33, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
- Whatever we do it will need to be based on a balancing of the different approaches found in reliable sources, and we also have to keep in mind that there is a quite different article called "Intelligent design" which focuses on the specific story of a version of this argument which we know from recent culture war debates. Currently this article is covering all the older variants. It is not really clear from your remarks what types of changes you would like to see, and how you would source them, but I take it you want the differences to be more clear. I have not looked at it for a while but I believe one problem is that reliable sources tend to use these terms in different ways. Currently the discussions of different approaches is split up chronologically, looking at specific proponents etc.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 17:27, 7 February 2023 (UTC)
- User:Andrew Lancaster my comment said the only option I could see was adding some See Also to more technically correct uses of the term. Mistakenly saying teleology is design or that natural theology is it are so common as to be the WEIGHT here. It does not matter that academically the teleological argument is literally a phrase meaning talk about the end result. It does not matter that teleology is nothing about design nor about complexity. It does not matter that natural theology has many parts and only one is Aquinas use of a teleological argument as one of his proofs for the existence of God. It does not matter if Socrates use of it was about an unintelligent acorn. The association by many repetitions, however technically mistaken it may be for philosophy, is so dominant that I cannot see changing the body of this article and we just accept it does not match academic works. (e.g. here or here or others.) Cheers Markbassett (talk) 18:45, 23 February 2023 (UTC)
- I understand that like me you aren't making any big proposals at the moment, but I was wondering if I could tease a more detailed explanation out of you of what your comments really mean in detail. Maybe it is relevant to other articles in the long term. I realize that Aquinas distinguished several different arguments but some of them seem to be equivalent. (Or that is a frequent reading.) Interesting that you cite Sedley. I've also tended to see him as a good source here. Can you point to a line or passage which explains your point?--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 22:35, 23 February 2023 (UTC)
- User:Andrew Lancaster I had no particular line in mind. In general, my point is that the literal meaning of “teleological argument” is just an argument based on teleology, and I offered some candidates of such for See Also links that are not about proving God exists. The most famous teleological argument is the Quinta Via of Aquinas in Five Ways (Aquinas), which is about proving God exist and became known as “the” teleological argument, perhaps confused as if that’s the only one. As said at Five Ways (Aquinas) even that one has nothing to do with design or complexity. Hopefully this helps. Cheers Markbassett (talk) 07:16, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
- Just my thoughts. No response necessary unless you think I am totally misunderstanding. Design means "intention" in these discussions, or in other words it means there is not only intelligence but also that the intelligences has ends (teloi). Complexity comes into the discussion because when complexity is observed which is not just a random mess, but something which looks organized and systematic, this supposedly implies that intelligence with ends. So no matter what we think of them, it is hard to handle these arguments separately because they are so commonly linked in such ways.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 08:50, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
- Mmm, think design or intelligence may or may not be present in individual cases of teleological arguments, but to be clear these are not the teleology part and a teleological argument may exist with one or both or neither. The acorn or other Teleological language in biology has no intelligence nor design, but looks at a final end (telos) anyway. The Teleological behaviorism and Teleological ethics has an intelligence looking at that final ends (result), but without a specific design of a mechanism. And of course one can have a design or intent without complexity. I don’t think these are inherently linked, but that since they are commonly confused and mistakenly said to be the same that the article cannot ignore that de facto they are taken as synonyms. cheers Cheers Markbassett (talk) 05:59, 26 February 2023 (UTC)
- Just my thoughts. No response necessary unless you think I am totally misunderstanding. Design means "intention" in these discussions, or in other words it means there is not only intelligence but also that the intelligences has ends (teloi). Complexity comes into the discussion because when complexity is observed which is not just a random mess, but something which looks organized and systematic, this supposedly implies that intelligence with ends. So no matter what we think of them, it is hard to handle these arguments separately because they are so commonly linked in such ways.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 08:50, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
- User:Andrew Lancaster I had no particular line in mind. In general, my point is that the literal meaning of “teleological argument” is just an argument based on teleology, and I offered some candidates of such for See Also links that are not about proving God exists. The most famous teleological argument is the Quinta Via of Aquinas in Five Ways (Aquinas), which is about proving God exist and became known as “the” teleological argument, perhaps confused as if that’s the only one. As said at Five Ways (Aquinas) even that one has nothing to do with design or complexity. Hopefully this helps. Cheers Markbassett (talk) 07:16, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
- I understand that like me you aren't making any big proposals at the moment, but I was wondering if I could tease a more detailed explanation out of you of what your comments really mean in detail. Maybe it is relevant to other articles in the long term. I realize that Aquinas distinguished several different arguments but some of them seem to be equivalent. (Or that is a frequent reading.) Interesting that you cite Sedley. I've also tended to see him as a good source here. Can you point to a line or passage which explains your point?--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 22:35, 23 February 2023 (UTC)
- User:Andrew Lancaster my comment said the only option I could see was adding some See Also to more technically correct uses of the term. Mistakenly saying teleology is design or that natural theology is it are so common as to be the WEIGHT here. It does not matter that academically the teleological argument is literally a phrase meaning talk about the end result. It does not matter that teleology is nothing about design nor about complexity. It does not matter that natural theology has many parts and only one is Aquinas use of a teleological argument as one of his proofs for the existence of God. It does not matter if Socrates use of it was about an unintelligent acorn. The association by many repetitions, however technically mistaken it may be for philosophy, is so dominant that I cannot see changing the body of this article and we just accept it does not match academic works. (e.g. here or here or others.) Cheers Markbassett (talk) 18:45, 23 February 2023 (UTC)
Minor description.
@Andrew Lancaster, The body does not necessarily have to state it. It's common sense, really, regarding how teleology works.(WP:CSIOR) It relies on reason rather than revelation. Whether the reasoning is convincing or unconvincing is another matter entirely, but the inherent nature of the argument is obvious.
The lead already has this line "While the concept of an intelligence behind the natural order is ancient, a rational argument that concludes that we can know that the natural world has a designer, or a creating intelligence which has human-like purposes, appears to have begun with classical philosophy."
Nonetheless, here are few sources: Though, I would argue, we don't need to put the sources on the lead.(MOS:LEAD) 182.183.53.142 (talk) 12:40, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- RationalISM is clearly more than just anything involving a rational argument. It also can't be defined as an opposite of "revelation". For a start you can read the article about it on WP which you link to. Using an -ISM means we connect this argument to a specific movement within philosophy, which would I think confuse and mislead. None of the sources you cite mention the word "Rationalism", and two of them are not valid sources according to WP norms.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 15:44, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- In that case perhaps, we could use "is a rational argument for". And instead of linking to the movement, we could simply link rationality as a quality of the argument. That could work. 182.183.6.255 (talk) 23:08, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- That is a step in the right direction. But are there such things as deliberately irrational arguments? I mean when we say that an argument is irrational, we mean it was done wrongly, don't we? Invalid? So what is the word "rational" adding here? Do we think our readers will be confused and think that an "argument for X" might actually be an argument which deliberately aims to work in an irrational way?--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 23:29, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- It's true that most arguments aim to be rational. But, I think that since we are talking about a religious argument, it underscores the argument's intention to appeal to reason and logic rather than emotion or faith alone, which is important in distinguishing it from other types of arguments for God's existence, such as fideistic or purely theological arguments. I think it clarifies this aspect for the readers early on. 182.183.6.255 (talk) 00:02, 11 August 2024 (UTC)
- That is a step in the right direction. But are there such things as deliberately irrational arguments? I mean when we say that an argument is irrational, we mean it was done wrongly, don't we? Invalid? So what is the word "rational" adding here? Do we think our readers will be confused and think that an "argument for X" might actually be an argument which deliberately aims to work in an irrational way?--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 23:29, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- In that case perhaps, we could use "is a rational argument for". And instead of linking to the movement, we could simply link rationality as a quality of the argument. That could work. 182.183.6.255 (talk) 23:08, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
- RationalISM is clearly more than just anything involving a rational argument. It also can't be defined as an opposite of "revelation". For a start you can read the article about it on WP which you link to. Using an -ISM means we connect this argument to a specific movement within philosophy, which would I think confuse and mislead. None of the sources you cite mention the word "Rationalism", and two of them are not valid sources according to WP norms.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 15:44, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
References
- "Teleological Arguments for God's Existence". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. June 10, 2005. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- "Induction Task – Phil Unit 1.1 Summer prep The Teleological Argument" (PDF). The Teleological Argument (the argument from design) Marling Sixth Form. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- "The Teleological argument summary notes". A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
GA concerns
I am concerned that this article no longer meets the good article criteria. Some of my concerns are listed below:
- The article contains uncited statements.
- The article relies upon quotes and block quotes in some sections. This creates copyright concerns and makes the article more difficult to read and connect ideas.
Is anyone willing to address these concerns, or should this go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 19:09, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
- If GA discussions lead to every statement needing a footnote, and no blockquotes that let readers see more clearly what was said, then they are pushing for a style of writing which is the opposite of what would be considered good in high quality writing about historical or philosophical topics. If there are specific statements that deserve better citation, and your aim is to improve quality, then why not just say which statements, in a clear and concise manner? Seems easy enough.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 21:18, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: Sorry that I did not respond to this sooner: I did not see it on my watchlist. The good article criteria requires that every statement be supported by a citation. This does not mean every sentence needs a footnote, as a footnote can verify information in previous sentences. However, it does mean that there should be a footnote at the end of each paragraph, with some exceptions (like the lead, which usually does not have citations per WP:CITELEAD). If you would like, I can add "citation needed" tags to the article to indicate where the citations are needed.
- As for the block quotes: per MOS:QUOTE "Using too many quotes is incompatible with an encyclopedic writing style and may be copyright infringement, and so most of the content should be in the editor's own words." In my opinion, this article uses too many block quotes which makes it difficult for the reader to understand the point that is trying to be conveyed in each block quote. Please ping me in responses so that I can reply more quickly. Z1720 (talk) 23:18, 29 November 2024 (UTC)
- Z1720 I doubt the article should ever have received GA status, but I also don't see that as an important priority. What would be far worse would be rushed deletions and tag bombing driven by formal criteria and drive-by editors not interested in the specific issues connected to the article topic and its sources. I am sure the article can and should be improved, but the two recommendations you make are too crude and rushed to be helpful. Acting quickly on them would not be a good idea. If you want to remove GA status please just do so. If you also have more detailed comments these might certainly help in the longer run. But I see no point assuming that we should rush to react on those just to save a GA status.
- The article contains a lot of citations, so tag bombing would be a very bad idea. If there are specific sentences or sections with problems, then please do the necessary work and explain those in detail. The last thing this article needs though would be an influx of pro forma B-grade citations, rushed in to save a GA status. If a controversial sentence has no citation, then there should not just be a rush to stick a footnote on it, but also careful consideration about whether the sentence is justified or needs tweaking.
- I think your block opposition to block quotes is "personal taste", and not a real WP "law". Broad guidelines like the ones you cite should be used in a sensitive and flexible way, looking at the best sources and controversies, and trying to find the best ways of explaining clearly, and avoiding misunderstandings. In the long run a better version of this article might involve fewer block quotes but removing them quickly as part of a drive to save a GA status would be a bad idea. This specific article covers a difficult and controversial topic. It has been a lot worse, and it could be a lot worse again. I do not want to say that drive-by editing is never useful, but it would always support "real editing", and by real editing I mean editing which has to be driven by the nature of the topic, including common misunderstandings and controversies, and the materials published about it. For example, for some "history of philosophy" topics, the best academic works compare and contrast the classic "block quotes". The best sources about this specific topic are in effect typically structured around a series of important quotes that secondary sources tend to interpret in different ways. Quotation of the originals is therefore often advisable. This could perhaps be done more subtly, but when they are in a rush Misplaced Pages editors often collect low quality sources from the internet like magpies, and these are particularly problematic for some history of philosophy topics. Such lower level works are often distorted by culture wars, and low level professional debates between academics who do not themselves spend much time on the classical sources they seek to enlist and distort for whatever their position is. If we want to discuss Aristotle then we should for example cite Aristotle experts, people whose work is often structured around block quotes, and not whichever academics are easiest to find online.
- In summary I don't think that GA status should be used here to encourage rushed editing. This could easily make the article worse. I strongly prefer that discussions about the article content should be based on careful and specific discussions, looking at specific sentences and sections, and the best sources. --Andrew Lancaster (talk) 08:23, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: I am not going to discuss each individual sentence that might need a citation on the talk page, as I do not have that much interest in this article. Per WP:V, information on Misplaced Pages needs to be cited, and if it is not it might be removed. I don't want to do that, as the information might be useful. Would you be able to look at the uncited statements in the article and add sources to them? Z1720 (talk) 15:19, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
- Misplaced Pages is made by volunteers working without a WP:deadline. When working properly they are spending time on each sentence by looking at multiple sources, and carefully weighing up the options. I have not looked at this article for a long time, and neither has anyone else as far as I can tell, and I do have other things I need to do. If you can name specific concerns then I can possibly work quickly, but if you are saying you just looked quickly and counted too few footnotes, then sorry but I don't think this is really a high priority right now. If you were to move from threatening to remove GS status, which is fine, to deleting sentences in order to make a WP:point, even when you admit not to have checked if they might be worth keeping, then I would call that disruptive editing. Drive by editors are only playing a positive role on WP if they support real editing. Imposing deadlines and making disruption threats is not going to help this type of article, so if you want to remove the GA status, please just do it. --Andrew Lancaster (talk) 15:30, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: An article does not have to have a GA designation. If no one is actively updating an article, and it is far from meeting the criteria, then it might be best to delist it for now and re-nominate it when it meets the criteria again. My concerns are not just a couple uncited statements, but several sentences and paragraphs with uncited prose, including uncited block quotes. I also am concerned that some sections need to be expanded, such as "Fideism and rejection of natural theology". If anyone is willing to work on this, I am happy to re-review when the concerns are addressed. If no one is willing to work on it, I will nominate it to GAR in the hopes that someone will adopt the article and improve the article. I have added cn tags to the article to help highlight where citations are missing. Z1720 (talk) 14:54, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Z1720: thank you for making some of your concerns more specific and concrete, because that can potentially help. As to the GA status I still doubt this article ever really deserved it. I see it as being in a different phase of development for now.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 15:51, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: I am happy to do a more thorough review once the above are addressed. Z1720 (talk) 19:00, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: Are you still planning on working on this, or should this go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 03:31, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Z1720: my apologies if I gave the wrong impression. My feeling is that this article is too far from GA level to stress over, and it should loose that status without further ado. I don't think any push to gain it can be very constructive in the short run because this article is too far from that level, and needs a different type of editing effort which is difficult to trigger like this. It is in a building up phase, and needs people interested in the topic to find time and energy. In terms of concrete feedback what you've mentioned so far is the section Fideism and rejection of natural theology which you think should be expanded. I am not intending to work on that at the moment. Your remark about unsourced materials is a bit strange to me. I don't think every sentence needs a footnote, so if you see specific ones then maybe you can tag them. I also don't see blockquotes without citations except in the Fine-tuned Universe section. I am also not intending to work on that. These sections can't be done quickly by me. (I did not create either of these sections FWIW.) In any case I think many bits of this article were probably meant as placeholders for future improvement, by people interested in the topic, and there is in principle nothing wrong with that. More concrete feedback or tags might draw more editors to help, but basically when an article is at this growing and forming phase the main thing to remember is that we are relying on a limited number of potential volunteers who are interested in this topic, and they have no deadline.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 08:17, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: Would you be willing to bring this to WP:GAR, as you can outline the concerns better than I can? Z1720 (talk) 20:48, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- This discussion is initiated by you, and to be honest I can't follow what concerns are driving your continuing posts. GA is NOT my concern, but yours, and as far as I can tell ONLY yours. It is not IMHO normal for people interested in GA status to act like this. MY concern is that if you have no interest in this topic, you should please leave the article alone, and of course if necessary get rid of the GA status. It is IMHO indeed not an article at GA level, but simply one which still needs to a different kind of work. It does not need "polishing". It needs more basic work sorting our the raw materials, by people interested in the topic.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 21:44, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: Would you be willing to bring this to WP:GAR, as you can outline the concerns better than I can? Z1720 (talk) 20:48, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Z1720: my apologies if I gave the wrong impression. My feeling is that this article is too far from GA level to stress over, and it should loose that status without further ado. I don't think any push to gain it can be very constructive in the short run because this article is too far from that level, and needs a different type of editing effort which is difficult to trigger like this. It is in a building up phase, and needs people interested in the topic to find time and energy. In terms of concrete feedback what you've mentioned so far is the section Fideism and rejection of natural theology which you think should be expanded. I am not intending to work on that at the moment. Your remark about unsourced materials is a bit strange to me. I don't think every sentence needs a footnote, so if you see specific ones then maybe you can tag them. I also don't see blockquotes without citations except in the Fine-tuned Universe section. I am also not intending to work on that. These sections can't be done quickly by me. (I did not create either of these sections FWIW.) In any case I think many bits of this article were probably meant as placeholders for future improvement, by people interested in the topic, and there is in principle nothing wrong with that. More concrete feedback or tags might draw more editors to help, but basically when an article is at this growing and forming phase the main thing to remember is that we are relying on a limited number of potential volunteers who are interested in this topic, and they have no deadline.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 08:17, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: Are you still planning on working on this, or should this go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 03:31, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: I am happy to do a more thorough review once the above are addressed. Z1720 (talk) 19:00, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Z1720: thank you for making some of your concerns more specific and concrete, because that can potentially help. As to the GA status I still doubt this article ever really deserved it. I see it as being in a different phase of development for now.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 15:51, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: An article does not have to have a GA designation. If no one is actively updating an article, and it is far from meeting the criteria, then it might be best to delist it for now and re-nominate it when it meets the criteria again. My concerns are not just a couple uncited statements, but several sentences and paragraphs with uncited prose, including uncited block quotes. I also am concerned that some sections need to be expanded, such as "Fideism and rejection of natural theology". If anyone is willing to work on this, I am happy to re-review when the concerns are addressed. If no one is willing to work on it, I will nominate it to GAR in the hopes that someone will adopt the article and improve the article. I have added cn tags to the article to help highlight where citations are missing. Z1720 (talk) 14:54, 2 December 2024 (UTC)
- Misplaced Pages is made by volunteers working without a WP:deadline. When working properly they are spending time on each sentence by looking at multiple sources, and carefully weighing up the options. I have not looked at this article for a long time, and neither has anyone else as far as I can tell, and I do have other things I need to do. If you can name specific concerns then I can possibly work quickly, but if you are saying you just looked quickly and counted too few footnotes, then sorry but I don't think this is really a high priority right now. If you were to move from threatening to remove GS status, which is fine, to deleting sentences in order to make a WP:point, even when you admit not to have checked if they might be worth keeping, then I would call that disruptive editing. Drive by editors are only playing a positive role on WP if they support real editing. Imposing deadlines and making disruption threats is not going to help this type of article, so if you want to remove the GA status, please just do it. --Andrew Lancaster (talk) 15:30, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
- @Andrew Lancaster: I am not going to discuss each individual sentence that might need a citation on the talk page, as I do not have that much interest in this article. Per WP:V, information on Misplaced Pages needs to be cited, and if it is not it might be removed. I don't want to do that, as the information might be useful. Would you be able to look at the uncited statements in the article and add sources to them? Z1720 (talk) 15:19, 30 November 2024 (UTC)
- Z1720 I doubt the article should ever have received GA status, but I also don't see that as an important priority. What would be far worse would be rushed deletions and tag bombing driven by formal criteria and drive-by editors not interested in the specific issues connected to the article topic and its sources. I am sure the article can and should be improved, but the two recommendations you make are too crude and rushed to be helpful. Acting quickly on them would not be a good idea. If you want to remove GA status please just do so. If you also have more detailed comments these might certainly help in the longer run. But I see no point assuming that we should rush to react on those just to save a GA status.
GA Reassessment
Teleological argument
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
- Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • Watch article reassessment page • Most recent review
- Result: Delisted. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 16:19, 1 January 2025 (UTC)
There is uncited prose in the article, and another editor on the talk page mentioned that the article is missing key information because of underdeveloped sections. Z1720 (talk) 15:17, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
- Comment. I guess I am the other editor? I don't see any posts using the words you've used. I would encourage other editors to read my real remarks. But in a nutshell, in terms of what I understand to be important for GA status I think this article has never yet reached a stable structure. It is still in a phase where people add new "stub" sections, and are likely to send the article in new directions, which might become stable. I'd encourage any editors who are interested in the topic to see what they can do, but I doubt that the article was ever really at GA quality, and I don't think that getting that label too early is necessarily a good thing.--Andrew Lancaster (talk) 19:17, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
- Support: Per @Andrew Lancaster's posts to the talk page. Even if citations could be produced where needed, the article lacks a cohesive structure. In particular it would benefit from an introductory "Definition" section describing the topic in general terms and distinguishing it from other major arguments for the existence of god. An "Overview" section might also be helpful—depending upon how much can make it into the lead.Patrick (talk) 23:15, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
- Comment – I have interest in this article, but no promises in getting dug in before it gets delisted. Remsense ‥ 论 08:16, 25 December 2024 (UTC)
- Delist While the lack of citations is certainly an issue, I think the bigger problem is the fact that it's structure is incoherent, making it hard to read. I think it should be re-written a bit. Also the fact of it's instability makes it further from meeting GA criteria. Sangsangaplaz (Talk to me! I'm willing to help) 13:24, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
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