William Paley

Rohinie Persaud Phi 1010: Introduction to Philosophy February 17, 2015 Argument from Design The Watchmaker analogy is a Teleological Argument for the existence of God. A teleological argument is known as an argument from design, and claims that there is an order to nature that is defended by the presence of some kind of intelligent designer. A common argument occurs in The Watch and the Watchmaker by William Paley. His analogy in my opinion is insignificant and focused off of an assumption through observation and not evidence through observation. According to the argument, the objects found in the universe provide evidence for the existence of God. Paley argues a watch is like the universe in function and complexity, a watch needs a designer, and therefore, the universe needs a designer as well. He points out that the watch is complicated with many parts, yet all work together to form a well-designed instrument. Paley explains that all the pieces of the watch were put together to serve a specific purpose. No matter how many watches were made before this one, Paley defends that the watch still has a maker. Other watches cannot design watches, some higher being must have created at least the first one. The creator obviously understands how the…

argument that states everything in the world is made just so that we can manage to live in it, and if the world was ever so little different we could not manage to live in it” (Philosophy 57-58). In 1802 William Paley’s introduced his own argument where he compared the complexity of living things to the complexity of a watch. Just as a watch would not be able to exist without a watchmaker, Paley argues living thing would not be able to exist without an intelligent designer. More than a century…

William Paley was a senior Christian religious leader of Carlisle, who lead Christian theology defending Christianity. Paley’s position is from the design argument, called teleological arguments which are arguments from the order in the universe to the existence of God. William Paley points out the resemblances of the universe to a watch, with many ordered parts working in harmony to further some purpose. “Paley argues that just as we infer the existence of an intelligent designer to explain…

can be used to predict what may happen in the near future. Whereas some weaknesses of this form of argument are: you can never guarantee that it is completely certain another weakness of an inductive argument is that people’s observations can be incorrect, if the observation is incorrect then the argument as a whole will not be correct making it weak.(EHow) and (Prestwick Academy course notes.) Paley’s watch is a very well-known example talked about when relating it to the teleological argument.…

UF ID: 7193-6522 Question: 2 Introduction to Philosophy Paper 1 09/27/16 The world is full of wonders that leave us in complete awe from natural beauties to the complexity of humans. Although one could potentially deny the status of such as a wonder, it would be a weak argument as even scientists today are left speechless about many natural events. According to William Paley, the world’s wonders are evidence that can lead to the belief in the existence of God through what was later known…

William Paley set out to create a logical argument called “The Watchmaker Argument” which proves the existence of a creator, and therefore, the existence of God. In “Natural Theology”, Paley argues that due to the complex nature of the universe, the universe must have had a creator. Paley’s argument would seem to make sense, however, when put under modern day scrutiny, does not hold up to the degree that it was originally intended to. Throughout this essay, I will argue that Paley’s Watchmaker…

God, Design, and Critiques When discussing the arguments from design for God’s existence a few names transcend into our thoughts higher than the others. St. Thomas Aquinas, William Paley, and David Hume are these people. Aquinas was born in the year 1225 and was a Dominican monk. Paley was born in 1743 and worked as the archdeacon of Carlisle. Hume was a skeptical empiricist born in Scotland in 1711. They have used their brain power to write various literature discussing whether the design we…

William Paley (1743 – 1805) was a professor of philosophy at Cambridge University who is most notably known for his watchmaker argument that seeks to prove a theistic view of god. By relating a watch to the natural world he uses argument by analogy in order to prove the design argument, or the teleological argument, which concludes that god’s existence can be proven by the order, complexity, and apparent purposefulness, within the natural world. [Insert thesis] Paley’s watchmaker…

Firstly, Plato said that mind orders all things; this is shown through the fifth of Aquinas’ five ways. An analogy was made between the universe and a man-made machine; Paley used this through his philosophy of the watch. He claimed that anyone finding a watch for the first time might not understand its functions yet would be able to recognise that it is not a result of chance, but the creation of an intelligent being. The watch demands a watchmaker. In the same way the universe demands a…

In William Blake’s poetical verses explaining the two contrary states of human existence, he observes the world with an extensive view from a state of “innocence and of an imagination unspoiled by stains of worldliness” (Keynes 12), and from a state of “indignation and pity for the sufferings of mankind as he saw them in the streets of London (Keynes 12). Holding firm to such ideologies as proposed by John Milton and Emmanuel Swedenborg, Blake believed in the philosophy that because all men were…