Pay And The Watchmaker: The Classical Design Argument

Submitted By LookingToTheBLUE
Words: 2693
Pages: 11
Open Document
Paley and the Watchmaker
The Classical Design Argument

The analogy between the World & the Watch:

The features of the Watch: • Parts have individual purpose + total purpose. Individual purpose based on order (they are framed). So there is order in watch. • Because there are several parts, the watch is deemed complex. • Parts interact with each other + have responsibilities towards each other. • Given these responsibilities, the watch can be said to have a total purpose – to tell the time. • These things could not have come about of their own accord. There must be a designer. • Complex ( order ( individuated purpose ( interaction ( total purpose ( designer

The features of the World: • Complex – there are billions of species of animal and plant in the world. • Ordered – we can see that there are distinct patterns and rhythms to nature, as well as ecosystems. • Things do seem to act for individuated purpose – each animal, for example, does its own thing. • Things in the world interact with one another. • Not necessarily a total purpose. We are inside the world and therefore we cannot know the purpose of the world in the same way that we can know the purpose of a watch (where we are outside of it). We do not have the Archimedean perspective required.

The use of analogy: • By analogy, it is likely that analogue 2 possesses very similar qualities to analogue 1. So it is likely that the world has a total purpose. The watch does, and it is similar in all other respects to the world. So by analogy we can say that the world has a total purpose. • The more similar the analogues are, the more certain one can be that they share the same characteristics. Need to be similar in key characteristics. (And there are key questions as to how similar the world and the watch actually are – see criticisms). • If there is a watch designer, how much more likely is it that there is a world designer given the order, complexity and purpose in the world, compared to that in the watch. By analogy, we can say that there must be a world designer. • One must proportion causes to effects. Because the world is so complex, ordered…then the world-maker must be so much greater than the watch-maker in all ways. In fact, the world-maker could conceivably be so powerful that it is reasonable to attach the term ‘God’ to him. • Revealed theology backs up this claim that the maker of the world is God. Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Paley’s pre-emptive arguments against criticism:

1. Paley answers the problem of evil by saying that just because something goes wrong, it doesn’t mean that there is no designer, or that God is imperfect. The world could be made perfectly but could still go wrong, just as a watch does.

2. The conclusion is not invalidated if we don’t understand all the parts of watch. It merely shows that we are less competent than the designer. There still is a designer, but we are just ignorant of all his machinations. So, just because we do not understand all the parts of the world, it does not mean that our conclusion about there being a designer for the world is invalid. This gets over the problem of us being inside the world and therefore being limited in terms of our knowledge of it.

The Key Features of Paley’s argument

1. The type of argument – a posteriori (so drawing on observations about the world), most are inductive; there is religious justification behind Paul’s teachings that can know G through creation, supports/strengthens a religious interpretation of nature and the world because it is demonstrating God’s nature.

2. It has a basis in analogy – Paley makes observations about the watch, the human eye and the world and claims that they have essential similarity. He claims that they are analogous, and uses this fact to draw conclusions about the world that are
Show More

Related Documents: Pay And The Watchmaker: The Classical Design Argument

World State and Our World Essay

World State and Our World In our modern world, most people are given opportunities to experience nature and different cultures. Occasionally, some people are not valued because of the interest of another society. The imaginary society that is described in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley has taken away freedom, which is one of the most important rights a human being has; that is, freedom to learn from mistakes, freedom to choose, and freedom to experience the existence in other parts of the world…

Words 1180 - Pages 5

A Perfect World: Living In A Perfected World

A perfected world 15 years ago our society had solved all problems. There was no poverty, murder, car accidents, rape or natural disasters anymore. Everyone lived a perfect, safe life. Just one problem was left. Suicide. The suicide rates were at 25% and even more people suffered from depression and nobody knew why. Scientists tried everything to make people happier or even find the cause of the depression. Only 100 years ago life was a lot harder, less safe and people constantly faced problems…

Words 1282 - Pages 6

In A World Essay

Bogucki 1 Kassie Bogucki Mrs. Buckhold CP English 30 January 2015 The Grey As the grey sun comes up and casts a shadow across the dull, dreary streets of Jones City, the lights come on in building number 104, home of the Jones 104 family. The buildings are just grey brick squares that have four rooms on the first floor and four more rooms on the second floor. Each block has eight buildings and there are dozens of blocks in one city. Every city looks the same, fences around them with a couple of acres of dead grass between them…

Words 683 - Pages 3

World Of Warcraft

nly effective at transferring knowledge, not inspiring your employees. How do we stimulate and encourage innovation, learning, and change in a business world riddled with tradition and outdated approaches? Businesses should use World of Warcraft to help with training. To answer this most pressing question, I urge business owners to look to World of Warcraft (WoW), a massively multiplayer online game (MMO). Surprisingly, many business owners have never heard of WoW, and many who have look at it a…

Words 1593 - Pages 7

Conquer The World

Reese Barden Public Speaking B.3 4/11/11 How to Conquer the World (Inform) Today, I would like to explain to all of you how one could easily conquer the world. This is an interesting topic to discuss, and has many different solutions, but I believe that I have configured the best formula on how to do so. But prior to my plan, I will explain to all of you the background of the situation. In short, the earthquake in Japan will cause tsunamis to hit the coast of California. Then the werewolves will…

Words 1065 - Pages 5

Communication And The World

Klyce 1 Communication and the World Communication can have a great impact on many aspects of life . In everyone's life they will experience a moment that will cause them to see the world in a certain way . The way someone interprets that world defining moment will be different than the way someone else interprets it . When families communicate they share these experience with each other . These experiences can have a negative and positive ways that can be interpreted differently between a family …

Words 1655 - Pages 7

To The People Of The World

Dear Us, To the people of the world, the ones who bask in lust and greed on Satan's shores: waking up every day just to fight for the promise land, with no direction no feeling; just stubbornness and initiative to act upon our own well being. How did we get here? A place where a man's whole life can be determined and stereotyped by race, religion, beliefs where class structures become more and more fixed. Sex and Alcohol are advertised and accepted more then morals and education. The Columns of…

Words 596 - Pages 3

Essay on THE WORLD

the environment in the ways we could. It did not mean to go out to protest on streets or write an article on the newspaper . No, we were going to make composite bins, talk on the morning announcement. We started by talking about ways to help our world. I had decided to never drink out of plastic water bottles. Because my teacher said that when they're is too many bottles to recycle they take it to India, where the people there put it in a pile in a deserted backyard! I became a great fan of F…

Words 678 - Pages 3

The World Essay

all of the drama, sex, extreme life scenarios, and possible fantasies that happen each day on a soap opera. The show is on everyday from 1 to 2 pm, when mostly mothers and college students are home. A lot of women like to escape into these fantasy worlds that the soap opera writers are creating because there day to day lives may not be as exciting as they would like. Soap operas also tend to be a guilty pleasure for mothers that may have only a little amount of time for themselves until their children…

Words 1364 - Pages 6

The World Of People

with a new and improved web site. The site was created to preserve their classic reputation while staying relevant in the market. The new site is broken down in to four categories, two of them being optical, sun wear and the other two which are “ The world of peoples” and “ Working Opticians “ two features on the site that demonstrate editorial content, collaborations within the company and the designee process behind the company. The co- owner and creative director said that “Although in my opinion…

Words 336 - Pages 2