William Paley Design Argument

William Paley and David Hume’s argument over God’s existence is known as the teleological argument, or the argument from design. Arguments from design are arguments concerning God or some type of creator’s existence based on the ideas of order or purpose in universe. Hume takes on the approach of arguing against the argument of design, while Paley argues for it. Although Hume and Paley both provide very strong arguments, a conclusion will be drawn at the end to distinguish which philosophiser holds a stronger position. Throughout this essay I will be examining arguments with reference to their work from Paley’s “The Watch and the Watchmaker” and Hume’s “The Critique of the Teleological Argument”.

In Paley's analogy he compares a watch to the world and human existence. He states that the watch must have been carefully designed by a watchmaker in order for it to exist. Paley supposes that humans and our universe must have been designed by a greater power because of the careful design. He states that the more complex the design the more likely for flaws to occur. He uses this to explain why people become ill, commit immoral acts, and death. Hume challenges Paley’s analogy saying that our world is so complex that anything made by humans will never be comparable to the complex design of the universe. He suggests that if there were a creator, it would not be something our minds be able to perceive or imagine. Also, Hume argues that a watch

Firstly, Paley concentrates in the process leading to the creation of the watch. The process for creating a watch is very systematic and involves knowledge of mechanical engineering, a trade known to few men. Yet, it is not necessary to know the inner workings of the watch to use it on a daily basis: it is only necessary to understand the relationship between the position of the watch's hands to the sunrise and sunset of day. Paley concludes that even though he could not create a watch, some supreme being could create such watch. In other words, anything that shows evidence of creation has a creator and such creator exists or has existed at one point in time.

William Paley's argument for the existence of God is an important aspect of the Design argument, which argues that the universe is being directed towards an end purpose due to the a posteriori (subject to experience) evidence of an intelligent designer, who is God. This is because it is perhaps arguably the most famous version, and the theory which modern-day theories for the Design argument are built upon.

Paley’s made his argument using an analogy to prove the existence of god, using a watchmaker analogy and to image if we found a watch on the ground and could it have been possible for the watch to simply appear randomly, spontaneously on its own. Paley was arguing that the teleology demonstrated by a watch would conclude that it was designed by an intelligent creator with a particular end in mind. While Aquinas has a design argument of his own ,the Teleological argument focuses on the condition that allows for life in the universe to only occur when certain fundamental physical constants are within a very narrow range if one of many fundamental constant are off slightly, then the universe would be unfit for the development of matter and life. Since these things are so finely tuned it appears an intelligent designer may have been involved in making sure these things happened so life could occur that designer Aquinas believes to be

Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design. New York: W.W. Norton, 1986.

In the argument, “The Argument From Design” from Natural Theology, William Paley argues that living things are like watches in one crucial respect: both exhibit design, the universe with everything in it. Paley thinks that people assume that the universe works for a purpose like the watch does. So, people would reasonably conclude that the universe has a designer or creator, like the watch does, God. Although, atheists deny that the universe is designed. But, shouldn’t there be some knowledgeable or intelligent creator to guide us towards our purpose to function in life?

Question 1) C.S Lewis like many of us was skeptical about several arguments made by intelligent design alone. After many years of research, he came up with arguments that demonstrate the world was not created by a divine intelligent design alone.

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

There are two basic theories in this debate. The first is the historical default, the creation model of origins. This theory maintains that the intricate design infiltrates all things, which implies a designer. The second theory is the more recent, atheistic explanation, the evolution model of origins. This theory suggests that the intricate design infiltrates all things and is a product of random chance and excessive time.

The two main arguments used in support of Intelligent Design are the arguments from improbability and irreducible complexity. Scientists and philosophers have always been staggered at the sheer multitude of living organisms on Earth. When creationists see this diversity and complexity of life on our planet instead of marvelling at the millions of years it took for an organism to reach the stage it is in, they see the marvellous work of the designer who made all this come to pass. It is of course, not entirely illogical to assume there is a creator. ‘The Watchmaker argument’ is a famous example which is used to justify the existence of a creator.

Based on my interpretation of William Paley’s The Argument from Design, it sounds as though Darwin’s objection to the argument is invalid from the start. Darwin’s objection says that there doesn’t necessarily need to be a designer, creation could happen by chance through evolution or mutation. While the latter part of his argument is completely valid; things can be created through evolution and mutation, the problem with his argument is that there would still have to be a reason that the former being evolved or mutated. Some kind of event would have had to of taken place in order to spark the change in that being. Paley’s argument primarily uses a watch as his example, explaining that it was

Argument from Design In the Argument from Design article by William Paley, he begins the argument by describing the mechanisms of a watch. These parts all combine in a certain way to make the watch work, or even exist. If these parts were not combined in the exact order, the watch would not do anything profound. Paley further describes how an observer could conceive the watch in the mind.

This searching for the ultimate explanation for existence is a phenomenon that has permeated human thought for centuries, if not for the entire history of humanity. Aristotle gave an explanation of this Origin: God. This explanation was cherished for centuries. Darwin did not try to substitute Aristotle's explanation with another, he did not offer a theory to what the actual Origin of the first species was, but rather, suggested a scientifically based proposal that there is no evidence of the existence of a conscious, purposeful God. This revolutionary idea sent a shock through western society. People's beliefs were unsettled and they were forced to begin a new search for the answer to the question of Origin.

As for Paley’s theory he believes that nature must have a designer and that the designer is God, he believed we all have a purpose and everything that we do has purpose. Paley says that with our abilities to create artifacts that resemble the universe then there has to be a creator of the universe and everything that is in it. Either nature or some of its parts have design like properties they show evidence of being