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The Scottish philosopher David Hume (who died in 1776, before Paley assembled his arguments into Natural Theology) had criticised arguments from design on several grounds. Firstly, he rejected the making of an analogy between the world and a human artifact such as a watch, since these are so dissimilar that any analogy must be very weak and ...
The watchmaker analogy or watchmaker argument is a teleological argument, an argument for the existence of God.In broad terms, the watchmaker analogy states that just as it is readily observed that a watch (e.g.: a pocket watch) did not come to be accidentally or on its own but rather through the intentional handiwork of a skilled watchmaker, it is also readily observed that nature did not ...
William Paley (July 1743 – 25 May 1805) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian.He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, which made use of the watchmaker analogy.
The teleological argument (from τέλος, telos, 'end, aim, goal') also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument, is a rational argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world, which looks designed, is evidence of an intelligent creator.
The argument from design, also known as the teleological argument or "argument from intelligent design", has been presented by theologists for centuries. [22] Thomas Aquinas presented ID in his fifth proof of God's existence as a syllogism. [n 2] In 1802, William Paley's Natural Theology presented
The teleological argument (from τέλος, telos, 'end, aim, goal') also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument, is a rational argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world, which looks designed, is evidence of an intelligent creator.
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design is a 1986 book by Richard Dawkins, in which the author presents an explanation of, and argument for, the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. He also presents arguments to refute certain criticisms made on his first book, The Selfish Gene.
The philosopher Sir Anthony Kenny also considers this argument to be flawed. [12] Cosmologist Stephen Barr [13] responded as follows: "Paley finds a watch and asks how such a thing could have come to be there by chance. Dawkins finds an immense automated factory that blindly constructs watches, and feels that he has completely answered Paley's ...