The Design of Life - God or Evolution? Essay

William Paley uses the invention of a watch as an analogy to the invention of the universe. He argues that if we observe the very complicated and detailed design of the universe we can see that there was in fact a maker. Paley argues that the complicated structure of a watch is enough prove that there was a watch maker just like the complicated structure of the universe is prove enough to show that there is universe maker. He also shows that the

Since the beginning of the human race there has been a lingering question as to the origins of man and how all living things acquired their characteristics. The two main theories that arose over time were Creationism and Evolution, both of which provided very distinct answers to this question. Creationism based its answer on the idea of a supernatural power or being that created the entire universe, man and the numerous other organisms that live within it. While, Evolution theorizes that all living things have the potential to change and grow over time into something new and different. So in other words, one theory suggests that humans and all the organisms on Earth are the result of divine design, while the other indicates that they

Paley's Argument For Intelligent Design and Its Criticisms Paley's teleological argument defends the idea of the existence of god through the idea of consistent and orderly design. Paley uses an example of finding a rock on the ground and then finding a watch. He argues that finding the watch, with all of its perfectly fit working parts, suggests an intelligent creator. In his argument, the watch is employed as an analogy for the universe.

In the Theological Argument William Paley is trying to prove that god exists. He uses the analogy of creation and design. He believes that because a watch has a maker/creator so does the universe. Paley then goes into depth of how complicated, precise and intelligent a human has to be in order to create the watch. He then explains all the steps and components it takes in order for the watch to be able to function. By doing so he is showing how precise the creator had to be in order for the watch to work and he uses this analogy for the universe. For instance, having the sun exactly where it is at the perfect distance in order to support human life on Earth. As the argument continues Paley starts to give reasons as to why people might consider

Paley’s assumption influenced scientists to assume that God designed nature thus, assuming intelligent design to be implemented by laws. Subsequently, the Charles Darwin hypothesis explain his assumption on the problem of evil as well, design in nature and with the natural selection clarified adaptation arguing that, everything that result from designed laws. In 1986, Meyer review suggested that, messages conveyed within DNA cell specified intelligence arguing to have originated from an intelligent agent. With this regard, the innovation of DNA cells merely outlined the supernaturalism and metaphysical naturalism.

In the text, we saw many different ways the Design Argument could be represented, other than a machine. The entire argument is based upon the first premise, “The universe greatly resembles a machine,” (Notes: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Slide 9), but throughout the argument, it is shown to be too broad. To me, that is where the Design Argument fails.

The Argument from Design In William Paley’s “Argument from Design” he seeks to prove God’s existence by comparing the world and universe we live in to a machine, specifically a watch. The goal of the design argument is to prove the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, and wholly good God through the watch analogy. The analogy tries to say that if we look at the creation of the universe like that of a watch, we can infer that it has a purpose and a designer. While this seems to be valid, there are some flaws in Paley’s argument that I will point out.

McCloskey argues that the Teleological Argument lacks evidence but there is a wide array of undisputable evidence to prove the Teleological argument. The body structure of man is a perfect example of design. Can you think of any better place for the nose to be located? It would be very awful if accidentally found its place underneath our armpit. How about the eyes? It would be a

The challenge was not that there was a flaw in Paley’s theory, the challenge rose from Darwin’s theory of evolution and ultimately his theory of natural selection. Darwin believed that the network of species “had not been independently created, but had descended, like varieties, from other species.” Put loosely, organisms produced offspring very similar to themselves but not identical, these differences meant that some organisms were better adapted to their environments than others. The ones that were better adapted survived and produced more viable offspring, the ones that could not adapt, went extinct. Thus, any organism that has survived this process and exists will be well adapted to their environment.

William Paley says in his Natural Theology - or Evidences of the

Creationism is a religiously motivated view that does not think that evolution exists. It relies heavily on a higher power creating everything that exists on Earth, perfectly. Paley's Design Argument for an intelligent designer deals with watches. He uses a watch as his example because if you were to find in the woods somewhere and picked it up, you would think that something godly made it because of its complexity.

In 1895 Charles Darwin published a book describing his theory of evolution, and his theory of the natural selection process. This theory caused much uproar in the religious community because Darwin’s theory went against the story of creation portrayed in the Holy Bible. His theory claimed that all life currently in place had evolved and adapted from a single organism in the beginning. Over time and by process of natural selection only the dominant species were left over while the other, less dominant species, went extinct. His theory, backed by scientific analysis, had dismissed the idea of a single deity creating all life on Earth. It is not like Darwin had a personal agenda against religion or anything,

Firstly, we shall focus on the Design (or to use its philosophically technical term, the teleological argument). There are numerous variants of the Design argument, however we shall be focusing on Paley’s version (reference 1) of this theory. Paley’s version of the Design argument is based upon the idea that by looking around at certain features of the world (for example an inanimate object like a rock or say a living creature like dolphin or a person like myself) and theorising that they are too complex and intricate to randomly just manifest. They must have been created by a higher, more intelligent power and thus, if this is accepted as being so, then this proves beyond doubt that God exists.

In the history of science vs. religion there have been no issues more intensely debated than evolution vs. creationism. The issue is passionately debated since the majority of evidence is in favor of evolution, but the creation point of view can never be proved wrong because of religious belief. Human creation breaks down into three simple beliefs; creation theory, naturalistic evolution theory, and theistic evolution theory. The complexities of all three sides create a dilemma for what theory to support among all people, religious and non-religious.

When thinking about the origin of life, there are two main points one can come to, Intelligent Design or Natural Process (Ken Ham, 2008). “According to the former view, supernatural intervention was essential for the creation of life; according to the latter, living organisms could form spontaneously—for example, from the mud of the Nile” (Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). Creation can be defined as the original bringing into existence of the universe by God (“Creation”, n.d.). Intelligent design can be defined as “certain features” (Ken Ham, 2008). Intelligent Design can also be explained by finding features of the earth and explaining them by an intelligent cause ("Intelligent Design", n.d.). Creationism usually starts with religious