The Teleological Argument

The Teleological or Design Argument is another a
posteriori argument for God's existence. It
maintains that the presence of order, complexity
and purpose in the world imply that it has an
intelligent designer. The argument, expressed
most famously by 19th Century Theologian
William Paley, is as follows:

Suppose I'm out walking in nature and I kick my
foot against a rock. I wouldn't think that there was
anything remarkable about this. If I asked myself
how the rock came to be there, I would given an
answer in terms of purely random, mechanical
forces--the shifting of the earth's crust, variations
of temperature and pressure, water erosion, and
so on. But what if, instead of a rock, I were to kick
a pocket watch? I would find myself wondering
who the owner is who dropped it as well as
wondering who the craftsman was who designed
and made it. I would reject explanations in terms
of random, mechanical forces out of hand as
absurd. Why? The watch exhibits order,
complexity and purpose. Even an alien from outer
space, if he'd never seen a watch, would be able
to discern its purpose in marking off the hours of
the day (he would notice that the hands moved at
a uniform rate, making two revolutions for every
cycle of the earth spinning on its axis). The gears
are intricately and delicately arranged, so that if
one little gear or spring was missing, the device
would not function. To imagine that bits of metal
and sand got blown about by wind and water,
heat and cold and formed themselves into such a
complicated device which just so happens to sync
up with the spinning of the earth on its axis strains
credulity. Yet we find in nature many examples of
this complexity and purpose, this fitting of means
to ends. The human eye, for instance, with its
complex arrangement of parts is much more
complicated than a pocket watch. And like the
watch, if any constituent part is missing, the whole
would not function. The human heart and the
entire human body are much the same way.

The pocket watch was the most sophisticated
machine in existence at Paley's time. Today Paley
might use a cell phone or laptop computer in his
analogy. Today also, Paley would draw
ammunition from the increasing complexity we
have found in nature, in underlying structures
within our cells, of DNA and of the elegant
equations which describe modern physics.
However, the broad outline of his argument
remains unchanged, which is

The Universe is like a machine, in that it exhibits
order, complexity and purpose.
Machines are always the product of intelligent
design.
Therefore, the Universe is the product of an
Intelligent Designer.

Objections

(1) The analogy is weak (Hume)

Hume says that intelligent design is only one of
many things in the universe which produces here.
For example, he says one could just as easily say
that the universe is like a vegetable or animal:

The Universe is like a vegetable, in that it exhibits
order, complexity and purpose.
Vegetables are always the product of germination
(they come from seeds).
Therefore, the Universe is the product of
germination (it was "seeded" from another
universe).

The Universe is like an animal, in that it exhibits
order, complexity and purpose.
Animals are always the product of procreation
(sexual reproduction).
Therefore, the Universe is the product of
procreation (it was produced by two other
universes in a process analogous to sexual
reproduction).

Hume's point is that the complexity of living
organisms comes from their reproductive
ancestors. Why assume that intelligence is the
only or ultimate cause of the order we observe in
the universe?

(2) Evolution.

It is no accident that belief in God began to wane
among intellectuals and scientists around the time
of Darwin's Origins of Species. Darwin explained
how the apparent design of the world could be
explained through random, mechanical,
naturalistic forces. Through random mutation and
natural selection, we can explain the variety and
complexity of life on earth. Current evolutionary
theory suggests that life began when clouds in
earth's ancient atmosphere moved against one
another, creating an electric discharge (lightning)
which, when it hit certain chemicals, created the
first proteins, the building blocks of life. It's a short
jump from proteins to the first bacteria. From then
on random mutation and natural selection take
over. When DNA replicates itself, there is a range
of variation which sometimes results in a marked
change in the organism. Most of the time, it's bad.
You may have seen examples of birth defects
caused by genetic anomalies such as animals or
human beings with an extra limb, two heads, no
skin pigment (albinism) and so on. Most of the
time, these mutations are bad, but every once in a
while, they are good. There is a slight change
which allows an organism to be just a little more
successful at evading predators, finding food, or
reproducing. Because of this trait, it is able to
outcompete other organisms and the trait
predominates or is "selected" by nature. The
process continues as disadvantageous traits are
"selected out" (organisms with them tend to die
more) and advantageous traits are "selected for"
(they tend to survive and reproduce more). Over
billions of years, we get a variety of organisms
each with their own specialized, sophisticated
abilities which allow them to flourish in their
econogical niche.

Evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins calls
evolution "the blind watchmaker" by which he
means it is the random, purposeless, process
which created the apparent design of living
organisms. Even though one might assume that
God exists and created the process of evolution,
the supposition of God is not NECESSARY. Thus
the Teleological argument is a DIRECT
CHALLENGE to the design argument because it
shows that the apparent design of the universe
could be explained without God.

There are some other criticisms mentioned by
Palmer should review. Remember that anything in
Chapter 5 is fair game for the exam.

© 2003 Jeffrey Borrowdale
All Rights Reserved

Prof. Borrowdale
borrowdalej@lanecc.edu