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William Paley (1743-1805) Teleological Argument

William Paley (1743-1805) Teleological Argument. Teleology. In Greek Telos means end or purpose. Teleology is the study of design and purpose. If things are designed or created they might have an intended (intentionality) purpose.

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William Paley (1743-1805) Teleological Argument

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  1. William Paley (1743-1805) Teleological Argument

  2. Teleology In Greek Telos means end or purpose. Teleology is the study of design and purpose. If things are designed or created they might have an intended (intentionality) purpose. If a thing exhibits a purpose it will probably have parts that show that they have been intentionally put together in a certain way.

  3. Watch and Stone Analogy Imagine that you find a stone and ask yourself “how did this get here?” Imagine that you find watch and ask yourself “how did this get here?”

  4. Analogy Analogy Stone Watch How did the stone come to be there? How did the watch come to be there?

  5. How did they come to be there? Stone Watch It has simply laid there for ever. It has no cause. It has not design. It exhibits no design or intentionality. The answer that it has simply laid there for ever is not sufficient. The watch has a purpose. It exhibits a design or intentionality

  6. Why Does the Watch Show Purpose? Parts are formed and adjusted to produce motion. The motion is regulated to point out the time of day. If the part were differently shaped, placed in another part than where they are or placed in any other manner or any any other order, the watch would not move to tell the time of day.

  7. Two Possibilities The first possibility is that all these variables – the size, shape, the material of which each part is made, their location, etc. – cam together by accident or chance. The second possibility is that the watch was designed by an intelligent agent.

  8. Design vs. Chance Design Chance A design requires a artificer. Design requires an intelligence of some kind that can think in terms of means and ends. Chance is random. So if I simply throw up all the pieces of the watch in the air what are the chances (how lucky you would have to be) for the pieces to fall in the perfect order and location for the watch to work?

  9. Rational Belief It seems more rational (since it seems more probable) that the watch was designed than that it came about by chance.

  10. Objections 1) You have never seen a watch and you don’t know a designer capable of making one. 2) The watch some times does not work properly. 3) The watch has superfluous parts. 4) The configuration of the watch was one of many possible ones. No special explanation is required.

  11. Objections 5) There is a principle of order that can explain the order in the watch. 6) The watch is not proof of contrivance only a motive to induce the mind to think so. 7) The watch is simply the result of some laws of nature. 8) We know nothing about the matter, i.e., how watches work or how they are made.

  12. Application of the Argument Watch Nature Has purpose Complex Many Variable Happened by chance unlikely Shows design Has purpose More complex More variables Happened by chance less likely Shows design

  13. Conclusion It is more reasonable to believe that the world was designed by an intelligent agent than to believe that the world was just there for ever and has no intelligent designer.

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