The Design (Teleological)
Argument
N.B.
This goes with the Origin of Life section, and
the First Cause Argument goes with the
Origin of the universe section.
The Design Argument
• Set out originally by William Paley in 1802 in a
book called Natural Theology.
• It is an a posteriori argument (meaning it is
based on sense experience).
• It is called the Teleological Argument because of
the Greek word telos, meaning design or
purpose.
• It is based on the observation of the variety,
order and beauty in the universe, which
presupposes design and purpose in its’ creation.
Paley’s Watch Analogy 1
1. If you were walking and came across a stone, you would
presume it had always been there, requiring no purpose or
design.
2. If you came across a watch (and you had never seen one
before), however, you would naturally ask what it was and
where it came from.
3. You would examine it and see that it is very complex –
glass, cogs, a chain, etc.
4. You would conclude that such an object could not have
just appeared randomly, or have just existed forever, but
that someone must have made it.
5. If you watched the watch working, you would also conclude
that it was made to carry out a purpose (to tell time).
6. Therefore, you could finally conclude that there had to be
an intelligent watchmaker who designed this object with a
purpose in mind.
Paley’s Watch Analogy 2
This argument is an analogy – comparing one thing with something
similar, so the second half of Paley’s argument compares the
watch with the universe.
• Similarly, if you look at the world we live in you will see how
complex it also is.
• You could examine it and see that it has very complex systems –
weather, gravity, etc. It also has so many complex organisms
living on it, perfectly suited to their environments.
• You would conclude that such complexity and harmony could not
have just appeared randomly, but that it must have been
designed somehow (like the watch was).
• You might also conclude that everything seems to be working
together to a similar end.
• Therefore, you could finally conclude that there had to be an
intelligent ‘world-maker’ who designed this universe and all of life
with a purpose in mind.
• This ‘world-maker’ must be God, as God is the only being outwith the universe, and is the only intelligent, powerful and loving
creator.
Traditional Criticisms of the Design
Argument
These criticisms come mainly from David Hume’s
book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
(1801 – BEFORE Paley published his book!).
1. His first argument that any analogical
argument is weak – to say something is LIKE
something else, is not proof.
2. If the universe was designed, it is not
necessarily by God (the watch, for example,
could have been designed by a team, or by a
genius lunatic, etc so these possibilities should
also apply to god).
3. The universe is NOT like a watch! (One is
mechanical and ‘set’, the other is organic,
changing and growing).
4. Nature is NOT perfect, beautiful and
harmonious. There is just as much chaos and
disorder as order and beauty (disease,
disaster, war, etc) – either the designer is poor,
or perverse!
5. If there is design in nature, nature may be
providing it ‘herself’: “For all we know a priori,
matter may contain the source or spring of
order naturally within itself.”
[Some people argue that Hume’s criticisms of the argument are so
infallible, that Paley would not have published his book if he had
known about them!]