I was sorting out my old files when I came across my old Religious education folder. I have touched on the teleological argument in my last post but i just want to paste my old explanation of the argument as I think it relates to design…

William Paley’s teleological (design) argument is an ‘a posterior’ argument, presented in the 18th century. The teleological argument relies on the evidence of the senses alone. It considers the similarity between things that have been created and designed and things that exist in the natural world.
Paley suggests that nature bares evidence of order and design. He uses the example of a watch and the watchmaker. He argued that if you came across a watch lying in a field you would assume that someone had lost it, and that it had a maker somewhere- it didn’t come about completely by chance. He also concluded that due to the detailed precision that the watch showed in the operation of its various parts, such object would need a designer of a craftsman who deliberately made the watch to function as it did. The designer being the watchmaker
Paley then argues that since nature also bears similarities of order and design and how everything in the universe is just right for its purpose and is unimaginably vast and unbelievably complicated we must conclude that this too has a designer/ craftsman who created it – this is God.
Arguments for the teleological argument are that it shows that God is directly involved in the universe without science playing any part. This allows Christians to prove Gods existence through reason.
Arguments against Paley’s idea come from David Hume. He doesn’t deny that the argument works however he believes that this produces a limited God, due to the world having so many imperfections e.g. earthquakes, diseases etc. This does not show God looking after his people. He also suggests that it can take many people to design and build something so why are there not many Gods?