Paley’s Teleological Argument: Definition, Criticism, and God

Running head: PALEY’S TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
PALEY’S TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PALEY’S TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
In this paper, I will discuss the teleological argument as put forth by Paley. In the first
section I will discuss the definition of God and the teleological argument followed by the
discussion of the criticism on the teleological argument as put forth by the various
contemporaries as well as the successors of Paley. The following report attempts a description of
the teleological argument as proposed William Paley and proceeds further to relate the
arguments made by Hume in criticism of the arguments put forth by Paley.
Definition of teleological argument
The teleological argument, often known as the Design argument, deals with the areas that
pertain to the proof of the existence of the Supreme Being or any other Divine Form. The
teleological argument states that there might exist within the universe a very powerful and vastly
intelligent designer who might have been responsible for the creation of this universe. The
argument as put forth by Paley suggests that the teleological argument might be termed to be an
a posteriori argument that argues for the existence of the Supreme Being. The eminent
philosopher tends to explain the same through the famous “watch” argument. The philosopher
aims to compare the universe to a watch. The philosopher states that the intricate mechanisms of
the watch help in the stating that the concerned instrument has been made by an efficient and
intelligent mind who is capable of the understanding the nuances of the instrument and thereby
helping in the matters that relate to the comprehension of the mechanism of the same (Paley,
2014). The philosopher compares the making of the universe to the making of the watch and
goes on further to suggest that the creator of the universe might also be referred to as an artifact
that depicts the characteristics that are demonstrated by the human artifacts that are designed by
the efficient and intelligent human beings (Kojonen, 2016). The philosopher argues that the
universe demonstrates similar characteristics thereby leading to the conclusion that the universe