PHL101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Great Machine, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Intelligent Designer
Document Summary
All of the arguments from design have something in common: an appeal to analogy. We will consider two versions of the argument from design (also known as the teleological. Argument ), one due to the philosopher and christian theologian william paley (1743-1805) and the other due to the character cleanthes in the philosopher david hume"s (1711-1776) dialogues. The argument from design does not simply refer to one argument, but rather, a family of arguments. This is a very narrow thesis, because all it suggests is that the world is so special, that there must have been an intelligent creator behind it. This argument does not involve any other reasons for the existence of god, like those found in the teachings of religion. Paley does not seem to consider the idea that mankind might base their designs off of the complexities found in nature, which would account for the resemblance between manmade things, and natural phenomenon.
