Design Argument

• Aquinas' 5th Way: 


  He observed that natural objects/being do not behave randomly and act towards a specific goal.
• Telos: 


  End goal or purpose.
• Aquinas believes that it is not possible for everything to have its own unique telos randomly. Therefore, there should be a creator.
• Archer Analogy: 


  Aquinas proposes that an arrow will hit a target even though it has no mind of its own. It reaches its 'telos' but does not do it consciously. The archer is what makes it hit the target. This is paralleled in God and creation.
• P1:  The behaviour of objects is goal-directed towards an end, because they follow natural laws.

  P2:  Natural laws cannot have been created by objects themselves, since they are non-intelligent or insufficiently intelligent.C1:  Natural laws must have an intelligent designer. ‘That thing we call God.’
• • P1:  The behaviour of objects is goal-directed towards an end, because they follow natural laws.
  • P2:  Natural laws cannot have been created by objects themselves, since they are non-intelligent or insufficiently intelligent.
  • C1:  Natural laws must have an intelligent designer. ‘That thing we call God.’
• Who created the design argument?

  William Paley.
• Paley's Watch Analogy: 


  If you were walking in nature and saw a rock, you would not think anything of it. However, if we replace the rock with a watch you would notice it. The watch obviously has been created by a creator, due to its complex parts needed to perform a certain task. This gives the watch both Complexity and Purpose. Therefore, the watch must have a creator. This is like the world, with God being the creator.
• What indicates that something has a creator?

  Complexity and purpose.
• “Every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature.” – Paley.
• An analogy (such as Paley's) provides the best explanation style of argument. As we don't know for certain, it is empirically valid to use an analogy instead.