what is william paley's teleological argument?

William Paley:

  • 1743-1805

  • archdeacon of Carlisle

  • natural theologian: proposed own version of teleological argument

  • fascinated by natural world discoveries

  • wrote Natural Theology - 1802

Context:

  • 17th-18th centuries = popular period for design arguments

  • Greek ahead in astronomy, botany, zoology, anatomy

  • discovery of adaptations

  • discovery of different ways animals were made, depending on climate and conditions

  • physicists discovering rules of forces, motion and gravity

    • these rules complemented each other in all circumstances

  • microscope’s invention allowed scientists to observe the intricate structure & function of cells

  • for many, the discoveries pointed to an intelligent designer

design qua regularity: the universe behaves according to some order

  • Paley further states that the regularity of the universe is also evidence of a designer eg Newton’s Laws of Physics

design qua purpose: universe behaves according to some order

  • Paley suggests we must look at the purpose of many intricate things in the universe as evidence for a designer

artificer: skilled craftsman or inventor

contrivance: a thing which is created skilfully and inventively to serve a particular purpose

paley’s view of the natural world:

  • the world is more impressive than the watch itself

  • everything has been designed with a purpose, with an infinite degree of attention to detail

  • even on the smallest scale, there is evidence of craft and skill

  • evidence of not only intelligent design, but God’s care

  • if God cared so much about the insect world, then He must care about people also

paley’s argument & final conclusion:

  • complex watch needs a watchmaker to explain how it came into being

  • the complexity of nature is far greater than any machine human beings can make

  • thus the whole of nature requires a grand designer - that designer is God

  • cicero: “what could be more clear or obvious when we look up to the sky and contemplate the heavens, than that there is some divinity or superior intelligence?”