William Paley’s Argument

• William Paley wrote the teleological argument
• William Paley wrote to defend the rationality of the Christian faith.
• In his book Natural Theology, Paley said that should he stumble upon a rock and ask himself how it came to be there, because of its simplicity he could conclude that it had been there forever. However should he find a watch he would conclude that because of its complexity that it was in need of an intelligent explanation.
• to distinguish between simple things and complex things, Paley uses a number of criteria. They are in need of a complex explanation if:

  1. it is made of specific material
  2. it has several parts
  3. it works for a purpose or goal
  4. it produces a regular motion
  5. if any of the parts had been different the object would not fit its purpose.
• The watch shows every manifestation of design and therefore requires a watchmaker.

  Paley works by analogy by comparing the watch with something like the human eye.
• Paley argues that like a watch the human eye is also complex and in need of an intelligent explanation.

  Therefore using the principle that like effects have like causes we should conclude that since the eye fulfills the same criteria then we should assume that they have a similar cause
• Paley says that every manifestation of design which existed in the watch exists in nature.
• Paley said that ‘The marks of design are too strong. Design must have a designer and that designer is God’.