Teleological Argument.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Teleological Argument:

I.) The basic premise, of all teleological arguments for the existence of God, is that the world exhibits an intelligent purpose based on experience from nature such as its order, unity, coherency, design and complexity. Hence, there must be an intelligent designer to account for the observed intelligent purpose and order that we can observe.

ii.) Paley's teleological argument is based on an analogy: Watchmaker is to watch as God is to universe. Just as a watch, with its intelligent design and complex function must have been created by an intelligent maker: an intelligent and powerful creator must have greeted a watchmaker, the universe, with all its complexity and greatness. Therefore a watchmaker is to watch as God is to universe.

II) Paley’s Teleological Argument:

1.) Human artefacts are products of intelligent design.

2.) The universe resembles human artefacts.

3.) Therefore the universe is a product of intelligent design.

4.) But the universe is complex and gigantic, in comparison to human artefacts.

5.) Therefore, there probably is a powerful and vastly intelligent designer who created the universe.

William Paley (1743-1805) was a British philosopher-theologian. During his lifetime, paley was both a professor of philosophy and a minister.

The teleological argument is sometime called the Design argument. Even if you have never heard of either ...

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II) Paley’s Teleological Argument:

1.) Human artefacts are products of intelligent design.

2.) The universe resembles human artefacts.

3.) Therefore the universe is a product of intelligent design.

4.) But the universe is complex and gigantic, in comparison to human artefacts.

5.) Therefore, there probably is a powerful and vastly intelligent designer who created the universe.

William Paley (1743-1805) was a British philosopher-theologian. During his lifetime, paley was both a professor of philosophy and a minister.

The teleological argument is sometime called the Design argument. Even if you have never heard of either argument, you are probably familiar with the central idea of the argument, i.e. there exists so much intricate detail, design, and purpose in the world that we must suppose a creator. All of the sophistication and incredible detail we observe in nature could not have occurred by chance.

Before we study the argument in detail, let us take a moment to learn what is meant by teleological.

Suppose you were walking down a beach and you happened to find a watch. Maybe you were feeling inquisitive and you opened the watch (it was one of those old-fashioned pocket watches). You would see all the gears and coils and springs- all of the mechanical "guts" that make up the internal workings of the watch. Maybe you would wind up the watch and observe the design of the watch at work as it sprang into action. Considering the way all of the mechanical parts worked together towards the end/goal of telling time, you would be reluctant to say that a designer did not create the watch. After all, every time we have observed design, it has been the product of a designer.

Now consider another object, say, and the human eye. Most of us marvel at the complexity of the inner workings of the eye. The design of the eye has yet to be matched by human engineering. Thus, if we can suppose a watchmaker for the watch (due to the design of the watch) we must be able to suppose a designer for the eye. For that matter, we must suppose a designer for all of the things we observe in nature that exhibit order. Considering the complexity and grandeur of design found in the world around us, the designer must be a Divine designer. That is, there must be a God, a Divine Designer, whom is the architect responsible for all of the design we observe in nature.

Often, the Design Argument is formulated as an induction: