William Paley is another one of the supporters of the argument. His book ‘Natural Theory’ put forward both aspects of the teleological argument and the second part of the book was based on the argument of design qua regularity. The evidence from astronomy and Newton’s laws of motion and gravity influenced his argument, to prove design in the universe exists. He stated that the rotation of the planets in the solar system and the gravity that holds the solar system together could not have come about by chance. He then concluded that an external agent must have imposed order on the universe as a whole and this agent is God.
Another aspect of the teleological argument is Design Qua Purpose, which is put forward by Paley in the first part of his book. He particularly uses the analogy of the watch. Suppose if you are on your way, walking to the newsagent, and on the way you come across a watch lying on the ground. Paley argued that even if you never seen that watch before, you would know that the instrument did not happen by chance. However it was designed and created by someone for a purpose i.e. to look at the time. Likewise, the universe demands a designer such as the eye, which has the specific purpose of seeing and its complex design suggests a designer.
In conclusion, the teleological argument basically states that the universe has order, purpose and regularity and its complexity shows evidence of design. Both Aquinas and Paley suggest that such design refers to a designer, which is God.
Darwin’s criticisms of the design argument are more damaging than Mill’s and Hume’s. Discuss…
The teleological argument basically states that the universe has order, purpose and regularity and its complexity shows evidence of design. Both Aquinas and Paley suggest that such design refers to a designer, which is God.
Alternatively, David Hume challenged the teleological argument; he stated that even if there is order and purpose in the universe, it still does not suggest that it was the work of God. The design could have been the work of several lesser gods, or alternatively, an apprentice god who moved on to create better and bigger worlds. This is because there are evidence of flaws in the design such death and suffering, which suggest that the designer was not a perfect being. Hume stated that humans do not have experience and knowledge of the creation of world, to prove that there is only one designer.
Hume also criticises Paley’s design qua purpose argument; he does not think that the analogy to compare with the universe and the watch. The universe is something that grows of its own accord rather than something made by hand. Furthermore, the stability and order is not the result of a divine designer, however of random particles coming together through time to form the current stable universe.
Another philosopher who criticised this argument was John Stuart Mills who is an empiricist. He argued that if the designer were all loving, then evil and suffering in the world would not have been included in the design. However, the teleological argument states that there must have been a designer who designed the universe, which does not suggest that the designer must be all loving.
Charles Darwin, a 19th Century naturalist, who formulated the theory of natural selection in his work ‘The Origins Of Species’. It challenged the argument of design, because the theory proposes that certain species have become extinct and new species emerge overtime. He also provided an explanation for the creation of the universe without referring to the creation by God. Darwin argued that random variation that have an advantage to a plant or animal in the struggle to survive, adapt that variation in order to survive as the fittest member of the species. This fact dismisses the idea of the apparent design, which is in fact is a result of natural process.
Hume and Darwin both question the existence of a designer, however Darwin’s work on natural selection is more damaging as it provides facts about adaptation of every living things in the world, other than a criticism that is also based on theory.
