Key Features of the Teleological Arguement

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Describe the key features of the teleological argument.

The argument of design concerning the existence of God is also known as the teleological argument. The name of this argument derived from a greek word “telos” , which means “end” or “purpose”.  The design argument is a “pisteriori “argument. The teleological argument is based on the observation of the things we see in our world today have been designed by a designer for a particular purpose. This theory originated from both Thomas Aquinas and Plato. Aquinas proposed an argument called the five ways. In this argument he identified the way in which “ Natural bodies” act in a regular fashion. This proves evidence of an intelligent human being such as God. William Paley also used this teleological argument as a way of proving his analogy of the watch.

  A key feature would be the fact that many analogies are used to help us to understand the teleological argument. For example Paleys watch. His analogy described how we conclude that if we were to come across a watch we could see that all the parts fit together in a certain way for the purpose to allow the watch to work. We would also see that this watch wasn’t just there by chance but must have been designed and created for a purpose: to tell the time. An intelligent person would lead to there being a designer. According to William Paley this is what happened with the world due to the way the world is structured and has a particular purpose. Paley also used an example of the human eye and the way in which this eye is used to see objects. He believed the eye was designed specifically to see and its complex and intricate design just like his watch suggests an intelligent designer behind it. The above analogies are linked to the universe and God as the designer.

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 David Hume used the analogy of a machine; machines are designed by human beings with intelligence. The world and the universe it is in resembles a machine. Therefore, the world must have been created by means of intelligent design. These analogies are used to prove that God exists by using the analogies to prove that every design has a designer , just like the world was created by God. This is an argument by analogy, and is convincing to some, but often more convincing to those already inclined to believe in the existence of God

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