Teleological arguments

Hume - design argument from analogy

• Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

P1 The universe consists of parts that accurately work together towards an end (telos)

P2 The universe resembles a finely-tuned machine, as machines also consist of parts that accurately work together

P3 Effects that are similar have causes that are similar

P4 Machines are caused by human designers with thought, wisdom, and intelligence

C1 Therefore the universe must be caused by a designer with thought, wisdom, and intelligence that are proportional to the grandeur of the universe

C2 Therefore God exists

Paley - design argument from spatial order/purpose

• imagine coming across a stone in a field - if asked, you might conceivably imagine that the stone has always been there

• however if you came across a watch, you would think that someone had placed it there due to its spatial order:

  • it has a purpose - telling the time

  • its parts work together and are fit for purpose

  • the parts are ordered and put together to make the watch function

  • if the parts were arranged in a different way, the watch would not work

• this is evidence of design - if there is design, then there must be a designer

• the universe, like the watch, is complex and has evidence of design - thus the universe must also have a designer

• the complexity of nature is far greater than any machine humans could make - therefore the designer of the universe must be far greater i.e. God

Swinburne - design argument from temporal order/regularity

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