William Paley's design argument

Philosophy of religion 

Hannah Withnell 

The design argument

William Paley’s Design Argument 

Cues

"its several parts are framed and put together for a purpose"-Paley Natural Theology 1802

Analogy:A comparison between two things or ideas with similar features, usually used to explain the less familiar idea.

Paley is most famous for the watchmaker analogy he presented in Natural Theology (1802) to argue for the existence of God as designer of the universe. 

Give an example of design in the universe.

Notetaking Column

He argues that both natural and human objects have a particular property that suggests design. Even though natural objects are different from a watch, both show a complexity that suggests that they were made by an intelligent designer. 

He argues that if we just found a watch on the ground, we would not assume that it had always been there. If we found a stone on a heath, however, we might be able to say this. This is because it was clearly…