The Design Argument

Question 1

What is the Design Argument also called?

Answer 1

“Argument from design”
“The intelligent design argument”
“The analogical design argument”
“The Teleological Design”
There is also a modern version of the argument called the “fine-tuning argument”

Question 2

Who created the Design Argument?

Answer 2

William Paley

Question 3

Who was William Paley?

Answer 3

A Christian philosopher
He studied mathematics at Christ’s College in Cambridge and stayed there to become a gifted lecturer, focusing on philosophy and theology.

Question 4

When and why did Paley leave university?

Answer 4

In 1780, Paley left university to become a vicar

Question 5

When did Paley write his book?

Answer 5

In 1802, Paley wrote “Natural Theology”

Question 6

What influenced Paley?

Answer 6

Aristotle’s teleology (end, goal or purpose)
Aquinas’ own design argument
Christian tradition of “Natural Theology”

Question 7

What is Aristotle’s teleology and how did it influence Paley?

Answer 7

Aristotle believed that everything had a “telos” meaning end, goal or purpose.
Paley then applied this to his Design argument and argued that the end, goal and purpose of his argument is to prove God’s existence.

Question 8

What is Aquinas’ Design argument and how did it influence Paley?

Answer 8

Aquinas creates 5 simple arguments for the existence of God.
Paley used this argument and has adapted it into a modern version

Question 9

What is the Christian view of “Natural Theology” and how did it influence Paley?

Answer 9

This is the view that questions God’s existence, nature and attributes can be answered by using reason, science, history and observation.

Question 10

What type of argument is Paley’s design argument?

Answer 10

Analogical
Inductive
A Posteriori

Question 11

What is analogical argument?

Answer 11

An argument that works by an analogy

Question 12

What is an analogy?

Answer 12

An inference where information or meaning is transferred from one subject to another
Analogies are metaphors used in an argument

Question 13

What is an inductive argument?

Answer 13

Inductive reasoning is where we
use premises to supply strong evidence for the truth of the conclusion.
Inductive arguments are probabilistic meaning they cannot be 100% proved.

Question 14

What is an a posteriori argument?

Answer 14

An posteriori argument is based on sense experience; we observe the world through touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight, and we draw conclusions from what our senses tell us.

Question 15

How does Paley introduce the design argument?

Answer 15

Using a long analogy of the watch

Question 16

Summarize the watch analogy

Answer 16

When on a walk, a man “pitched his foot against a stone” and came to the conclusion that the stone “had lain there forever”
But suppose he had came across a watch, unlike his previous answer for the stone, the watch may have been placed there.
When observing this watch, he noticed that “several parts are framed and put together for a purpose” implying that every tick, every hand and every cog has been designed specifically by designers.
That designer being God

Question 17

How does the watch analogy link into the existence of God?

Answer 17

The watch represents the universe meaning every detail of the world, every specific characteristic suggests that the world has been designed, created especially for humanity and must have been created by a “designer” that designer being God. Therefore he exists.

Question 18

What is P1 of the design argument and why is it true?

Answer 18

Some objects in the world exhibit complexity, regularity and purpose.
It’s true because everything has a purpose such as our bodies; its purpose is to reproduce

Question 19

What were Paley’s 3 observations on world?

Answer 19

Complexity
Regularity
Purpose

Question 20

How did Paley view the world’s complexity?

Answer 20

Paley describes the universe as complex as it is adapted efficiently to humanity.
Paley uses the human eye as an example because it has many different functions
The more complex the universe is, the more intelligent the designer must have been.

Question 21

How did Paley view the world’s regularity?

Answer 21

Paley also saw the universe as regular.
For example, the seasons and planets are repetitive and natural.

Question 22

How did Paley view the world’s purpose?

Answer 22

Paley observes the machines that we make and infers that they are built for a purpose.
For example, the trees and nature provides humans with oxygen in order to give us life
Our observation of the complexity and regularity of the world therefore implies that the world too has a purpose.

Question 23

How did Paley’s 3 observations about the world formulate his argument?

Answer 23

Some objects in the world show clear evidence that they were designed because they exhibit complexity and regularity, from which we can infer that they were made for a purpose.
The universe appears to exhibit complexity and regularity, from which we can infer that it was made for a purpose.
So it is likely that the universe was designed.

Question 24

What is P2 of the design argument and why is it true?

Answer 24

The complexity, regularity and purpose of these objects is evidence that these objects were designed.
This shows that everything is designed and therefore there must be a designer

Question 25

Why is the principle of order and why does Paley reject it?

Answer 25

The principle of order is a law of nature that means things will become ordered on their own, without the need for a designer.
Paley rejects this as he believed there is no such principle founded by science.

Question 26

What is the third premise of the design argument and why is it true?

Answer 26

The universe appears to exhibit complexity, regularity and purpose meaning the universe is too complex, too purposeful to be created by accident

Question 27

How does the universe show proof of regularity and complexity?

Answer 27

Complexity is shown by the vast size of the universe.
Regularity is shown by the physical laws that govern the universe and “awe inspiring regularity of the orbits”

Question 28

What is the conclusion in which Paley makes from the design argument?

Answer 28

It is likely that the universe was designed; the designer was most likely God

Question 29

How does Paley come to the final conclusion?

Answer 29

Process of Elimination

Question 30

What is process of Elimination?

Answer 30

Considering and rejecting each possible choice until only one is left.

Question 31

What are the possible causes of the universe and how does Paley view them?

Answer 31

The idea that the creation of the universe is a random accident in which Paley thought the world is too complex and purposeful to be an accident.
The principle of order is another option but Paley rejects this as no such principle has been discovered by science.
Therefore, Paley is convinced that the universe must’ve been designed by a good designer (God).

Question 32

Summarize the conclusion of Paley’s design argument.

Answer 32

In summary, Paley’s Design Argument is that from the purpose and regularity we observe in nature, we can conclude that these were the intentional design of God. The main argument being from purpose explains why Paley’s argument is also called the ‘Teleological Argument’, telos being the Greek for ‘end’, or ‘purpose’.

Question 33

Who is the main person to criticize Paley’s design argument?

Answer 33

David Hume

Question 34

Who is David Hume?

Answer 34

A Scottish philosopher
An empiricist, skeptic and atheist
He had a superb intellect and used it to rather
devastating effect in his various critiques of religion.

Question 35

What was the name of Hume’s book and when did he write it?

Answer 35

In 1779, Hume wrote “Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion”

Question 36

What are the common errors to avoid when looking at Hume’s criticisms?

Answer 36

“Assuming that Hume responded to directly to Paley” Hume died in 1776 and his book was published in 1779 before Paley published his book in 1802.
Avoid the error of thinking Paley had no knowledge of Hume’s crictics

Question 37

What was one of Hume’s guiding principles?

Answer 37

A cause must be proportional to its effect

Question 38

Explain David Hume’s first criticism

Answer 38

Even if we grant that the universe was designed, there is no evidence that this was the God of Christian theism. A lesser being could have designed the universe.
Paley infers that the designer of the universe is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God of Christian theism, but although such an inference might be true it is nevertheless out of proportion to the evidence.
If there is a designer, a lesser being could well be responsible.
Design is normally a feature of teamwork, so there is no obvious reason to suppose that the designer of this universe was a single being operating on his own.

Question 39

Explain David Hume’s second criticism

Answer 39

The existence of evil and imperfection in the world does indeed suggest a limited designer.
The existence of evil and imperfection contradicts the idea of God being omnipotent and omnibenevolent; this is also known as the Inconsistent Triad.

Question 40

Explain David Hume’s third criticism

Answer 40

Analogies between the way the universe works and the way machines work are unsound.
The world is more like a vast floating vegetable, and the thing about vegetables is that they grow themselves, apparently without the need for a designer.
In some parts of Hume’s writings he seems to anticipate Darwin’s theory of evolution. In the opinion of most evolutionary biologists, evolution is not directed by any external agent such as God. Hume has some powerful support here, then.

Question 41

Explain David Hume’s fourth criticism

Answer 41

To make an analogy between the designers of human machines and the designer of the universe is just anthropomorphism – we are
trying to explain the universe in our own image.
We have no experience at all of universe-making, and therefore we have no idea of what it takes to design one, or what the designer would be like.

Question 42

What is anthropomorphism?

Answer 42

Giving human attributes to non-humans such as a Gods and animals

Question 43

Explain David Hume’s fifth criticism

Answer 43

The universe could have developed into a comparatively ordered state simply by chance.
Hume suggested that some such theory accounted for the appearance of design in the world, so it is at least as likely that the world appears in an ordered state purely by chance rearrangement as that it was designed by God.

Question 44

What are the weaknesses of Paley’s design argument?

Answer 44

Even if the universe was designed, the all-powerful God of Christian theism is a greater cause than is needed to account for that design.
The existence of evil is a powerful argument against the belief that the designer is all-loving and all-powerful.
Hume’s argument that the universe is more like a vegetable than a machine, and that vegetables do not need designers, is backed up strongly by the theory of evolution.
As Hume says, we have no experience of universe-making, so our ideas about it are anthropomorphic – we lift them from our own
limited experience and impose them on the universe.
Moreover if nature can design itself, as Hume argues and evolutionary theory supports, Hume is probably right in claiming that the universe designed itself in the first place.

Question 45

What are the strengths of Paley’s design argumeny?

Answer 45

Paley may be right to argue that the designer is the all-powerful Christian God, because this is the simplest explanation.
Paley argued that evil may be unavoidable in order for God to bring about good.
Evolution does not destroy the Design Argument because evolution does not explain itself, and evolution is compatible with belief in God anyway.
Paley does draw the conclusion that the designer is metaphysical
and transcendent (above the space–time universe)
Paley’s argument that ‘nature shows intention’ becomes stronger when supported by the anthropic principle.
One strong point about Paley’s argument is its simplicity – it is a simple inductive argument.

Question 46

Does Paley’s Design Argument prove God’s existence?

Answer 46

Inductive arguments are about what is probably
true, and they give us new knowledge.
Paley’s Design Argument is inductive, but its evidence does not amount to scientific proof, because we have no clear way of assessing the degree of probability of his argument.
Nevertheless Paley’s inductive argument could well be the best explanation of the order we see in the universe.
For some individuals who believe in God, Paley’s Design Argument could not be a proof, because proof could only come through religious
experience.