Paley's Argument Analysis

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The Problems with the Argument from Design
The global argument from design is an analogy created by William Paley in which he attempted to formulate a cogent argument for the existence of God by drawing a connection between the order found in man-made objects and the order found in nature. The main issue regarding this topic is whether or not nature was created by an intelligent designer simply because a man-made object was. My position on the main issue is that I don’t believe you can make an analogy between the two because it takes too big of a leap. Support offered in favor of my position include Hume’s arguments, specifically the fallacy of composition. I believe that the global argument from design is false because William Paley is …show more content…
Philosopher David Hume came up with several complications he had with the argument from design. One of his reasons that I wanted to explore was his belief that the argument is an example of the fallacy of composition. This objection claims that just because you know the cause of several individual events, you cannot make an assumption to define the group as a whole (class notes). This objection is powerful in that if all things that encompass the universe are contingent on something else, this does not mean that the universe as a whole is dependent on something else. While man-made objects must be built with a goal in mind, this does not provide enough evidence to say that the universe was necessarily built with a similar …show more content…
I believe that the global argument from design is not cogent because William Paley is not able to overcome the fallacy of composition, hereby creating an analogy between man-made objects and the universe although the universe does not necessarily have to be contingent upon anything else to exist. Other avenues to explore in the future could be to consider where the theory of evolution fits into the argument. Based on that theory, things may appear as though they were designed in a tactical way, but have merely adapted so that they are able to exist in the most favorable way that they can. The theory of evolution is yet another reason why the argument from design is

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