The Teleological Argument (argument from design) claims that one can infer from what that God exists?…
It seems that everything around us is some small cog in a large piece of clockwork that has been intricately designed for all aspects of the planet to coincide and work with each other. The main strengths of the teleological argument are that the conditions of the world are so perfect for us to live in that it must have been designed. Evidence is everywhere. One can use the William Paley's watchmaker theory in support. Which states that: if you're walking along the beach and find a watch you don't assume it’s there by accident. You know someone must have made it due to how intricate the interior and it showing evidence of design; this is the same with the world. One of the most obvious forms of design is the Fibonacci sequence which appears in nature repeatedly; the mathematical pattern can be seen in snail shells and petals of a plant. It seems like this formula was the template for the production of nature, it surely cannot be coincidence that it appears in so many different aspects?…
There is one prevailing question we ask ourselves consistently, “Does God exist?” Every human answer’s that question in their own unique way, which is contingent upon their beliefs, experiences, and influences. The existence of God was significantly debated among philosophers during the 18th and 19th centuries and each esteemed philosopher had a distinct argument explaining their rationale, while criticizing another’s. In this paper, I will analyze William Paley’s argument, “The Teleological Argument,” and how it is disparaged by David Hume and his argument for apparent…
According to the creators of the book Introducing Philosophy the teleological argument can be defined as an argument that attempts to prove god’s existence due to the intricacy and design of nature (Glossary, p.617). A good way to describe the teleological argument is by looking at the universe.…
The teleological argument is one made for the existence of God. William Paley’s argument is based on the idea that the universe is too complicated to have been created by accident and so must have had a creator. This creator is assumed to be God, who has created the universe and all the parts in it serve a certain purpose. A close consideration of this argument will show that there are several problems with it.…
“With such signs of forethought in the design of living creature, can you doubt they are the work of choice or design?” (Socrates) The Design argument looks at the order and purpose, or telos, in the world and states that it implies that there must be a designer who made the world ‘just right’ for human existence. Religious believers go on to state that this designer is God. The argument states that if one uses one’s senses to look at order, such as gravity and the motion of the planets, which exists in the world, it is likely that one will accept that there is a designer God who created the world and gave it this order. Thus, the argument is both a posteriori, based on experience, and inductive, containing a conclusion that we are likely to accept if we believe the premises to be true. Although the argument was one of Aquinas’ five ‘ways’ in his book, Summa Theologica, the most famous version of the Argument from Design was put forward by William Paley in his book Natural Theology (1802), and therefore, this essay will focus mainly on Paley’s version of the argument.…
The anthropic principle proposes that the reason and purpose for the universe is the support of human life: ‘As we look out into the Universe and identify the many accidents…the Universe must in some case have know we were coming’ (Freeman Dyson, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle). It also demonstrates that the design argument need not reject the principles of evolution in order to assume a designing God. However, theistic supporters of evolution argue that scientific principles alone are not enough to explain a perfectly balanced natural order that…
The Teleological Argument recognizes the various complex aspects of the Earth, nature, and life and attributes these complexities to a designer. The most common analogy depicting this argument is described through a watch. A watch represents intricate and meticulous designing that couldn’t have just been formed accidentally. This analogy can be interpreted relating to the universe. The greater the design, the greater the designer. Much like the watch, there are various “natural” processes and events that happen in the world that could not have just happened coincidentally as it appears to have been the result of meticulous designing, there had to be someone or something that engineered it all and that being can be rationally reasoned to be God through the Teleological Argument as it implies intelligent design. There is no way that Earth is already fine-tuned to support the complexity of living organisms and life because there are so many qualities that characterize them; it had to be planned, intentional and caused by someone or…
Teleology is an argument of God’s existence following the evidence of order defined as the design of nature. Teleological arguments also known as arguments from design, explain the order in the universe to the existence of God. The universe is believed to be ordered towards some end or a certain purpose. It is more reasonable to suggest that the universe was created by an intelligent being to accomplish a purpose rather than it being there by chance (McGrath, 2010). The teleological argument has been used to show the existence of God with popular arguments including that of William Paley. Paley used a watch to relate to the order, complexity and purpose of the universe. A watch has a number of ordered parts that work in harmony for an end…
The most common and influential argument’s for the existence of God are design arguments. In the last fifty years design arguments have received the most attention philosophically. Design arguments are both empirical and inductive arguments. Design arguments identify properties of objects in nature and argue that the only way that they could have occurred or the best explanation for them is that there is some intelligent/higher being that created or conceived the object. William Paley was a Christian apologist in the eighteenth century who was known for his popular version of the teleological argument (“watchmaker analogy”). Paley stressed the idea that the world’s complexity and design is not based off luck or chance, but rather designed by…
One of the most fascinating arguments for the existence of an all-perfect God is the ontological argument. While there are several different versions of the argument, all purport to show that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. Thus, on this general line of argument, it is a necessary truth that such a being exists; and this being is the God of traditional Western theism. This article explains and evaluates classic and contemporary versions of the ontological argument.…
Some theists of the Abrahamic persuasion claim that the harmony of the universe is proof of an intelligent designer. This argument is known as the teleological argument and has evolved from classical philosophy to modern theology. In addition, subscribers of the Abrahamic religions also hold that God has attributes that include omniscience, omnipotence, and benevolence. Fundamentally, God is all knowing, all-powerful, and all good. In contrast, God created a perfect universe that is in harmony, but occasionally practices miracles. Can the teleological argument, miracles, and God’s attributes coexist in a rational universe? This essay’s goal is…
There are approximately 7 billion people that inhabit this Earth. With there being as many people as there are, there are millions of views that each individual has. Some may believe that aliens exist, and others may even believe that the moon is made out of cheese. Regardless of what somebody believes, they usually have their reasons. A discussion that is very controversial is the debate for the existence of God. People that believe in the Judeo-Christian God have different reasons for why they believe in God. Conversely, Atheists also have their own take on why God does not exist, as well. A popular argument is known as the Design Argument. In this paper, the Design Argument will be discussed and analyzed.…
There are 3 main arguments that each seek to prove the existence of God; the Ontological, Cosmological, and Teleological Arguments. Each is different in its approach, but all arrive at the same conclusion. Ontological Argument argues God’s existence from the assumption of the existence a “Greatest Thing that can ever be conceived.” From there, it argues that in order for something to be “The Greatest Thing ever” it must exist physically (that is outside of the mind). The Cosmological Argument argues that since everything in the universe is contingent (or is dependent on other things for its existence), there must be a first cause that set the universe in motion.…
A surprisingly few number people know what the meaning of teleology is but a large majority of the population have very strong feelings towards its basic principle. Teleology is the philosophical study of evidences of design in nature. It is the fact or the character of being directed toward an end or shaped by a purpose. Teleology may be used to describe natural processes or nature as a whole, conceived as determined by final causes or by the design of a divine providence. The philosophy allows that for any "natural phenomenon," design or purpose may be used as an explanation (Webster's 2350). A more familiar way of questioning if one believes the principle idea of teleology or not, is whether one believes in the idea of destiny or choice.…