Religion is a matter of personal belief, faith, or dogma. The majority of religions are centered on the existence of one or more gods. The existence of God, or multiple gods, is a priori truth- no observation can show that God does not exist. However, there is also no observation that prove that God does exist. This dilemma has driven many philosophers to propose numerous arguments against and for the existence of God. Of these, The Design Argument presented by William Paley. The Design Argument, also called the teleological or analogical watch-maker argument, uses the analogy of watch-making. Watches were made by an intelligent designer. Organisms are similar to watches in that they are both complex. Watches were created by an intelligent
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David Hume objected that there are numerous differences between humans and watches. The large amount of differences make the analogy void. Additionally, David Hume argued that the sample size for William Paley’s argument is too small. David Hume is correct that the argument would benefit from increasing the sample size but it is impossible to provide evidence from every possible universe, let alone one universe. William Paley contends that since there is a watch maker for a watch, there is a universe maker for the universe. This argument cannot be proven to be true since humans can not recognize a universe maker, but it can also not be proven to be untrue. David Hume admits that there is evidence for an “intelligent creator”, but he adds that he does not believe William Paley provides enough evidence for the intelligent designer to be God. Furthermore, Hume argues that humans cannot know who created the universe. William Paley counter-objects David Hume by stating that even though the creator is not known, it does not deny that there is one. The argument for the existence of God, as the “intelligent creator”, presented by William Paley has areas for other philosophers to object to the argument. However, the argument William Paley provides has the least amount of objections and obvious fallacies. Since the objections are inadequate to prove the argument untrue, the Design Argument remains the best argument for the existence of
David Hume objected that there are numerous differences between humans and watches. The large amount of differences make the analogy void. Additionally, David Hume argued that the sample size for William Paley’s argument is too small. David Hume is correct that the argument would benefit from increasing the sample size but it is impossible to provide evidence from every possible universe, let alone one universe. William Paley contends that since there is a watch maker for a watch, there is a universe maker for the universe. This argument cannot be proven to be true since humans can not recognize a universe maker, but it can also not be proven to be untrue. David Hume admits that there is evidence for an “intelligent creator”, but he adds that he does not believe William Paley provides enough evidence for the intelligent designer to be God. Furthermore, Hume argues that humans cannot know who created the universe. William Paley counter-objects David Hume by stating that even though the creator is not known, it does not deny that there is one. The argument for the existence of God, as the “intelligent creator”, presented by William Paley has areas for other philosophers to object to the argument. However, the argument William Paley provides has the least amount of objections and obvious fallacies. Since the objections are inadequate to prove the argument untrue, the Design Argument remains the best argument for the existence of