The Design Argument

Textbook Reference:
Book A
3.1.5 The Design Argument
What you have learnt……
Intelligent Design Response
• The universe is so complex that it can’t have happened by chance; life
it too complex and specific to have evolved naturally
• It must have been created by an intelligent designer, i.e. God
 What is design?
• Involves things working together according to a plan (purpose)
• To produce something that was intended
• Refer to something that shows order, complexity, beauty, purpose or
providence
 What is Design Argument?
• A philosophical argument to prove the existence of God

St Thomas Aquinas William Paley

(1225 – 1274) (1743 – 1805)
• He argued that the • He argued that the
apparent order and complexity of the world
suggests there is
complexity in the world
a purpose to it. This
is proof of a designer suggests there must be a
and that this designer designer, which he said is
is God. God.
• Illustrated his point with
the Analogy of a Watch
(refer to next slides)
https://youtu.be/bNPSiaU62yk
 Analogy of a Watch
— William Paley, Natural Theology (1802)
In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and
were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer,
that, for anything I knew to the contrary, it had lain there forever: nor
would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer.
 Analogy of a Watch
— William Paley, Natural Theology (1802)
But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be
inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly
think of the answer I had before given, that for anything I knew, the
watch might have always been there.
There must have existed, at some time, and at some place or other, an
artificer or artificers, who formed [the watch] for the purpose which
we find it actually to answer; who comprehended its construction, and
designed its use.
 Analogy of a Watch
— William Paley, Natural Theology (1802)
Every indication of contrivance, every manifestation of design, which
existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature; with the difference,
on the side of nature, of being greater or more, and that in a degree
which exceeds all computation.
 Analogy of a Watch
— William Paley, Natural Theology (1802)
If you were walking in an uninhabited place (e.g.
desert)

Came across a watch

• Won’t say it had been placed there by chance

The complexity of the watch’s mechanism make you

say that it must have a watchmaker (designer)

Analogically, as the universe is a far more complex

mechanism than a watch, thus it must have a designer

The only being that could design the universe would

be God, i.e. God exists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HJVfB1h_48
 Modern forms of Design Argument
• Many Catholic philosophers begin the design argument
by pointing out the features of the world and arguing
that they appear to have been designed:
➢the universe works according to laws.
✓ the law of gravity, electricity, motion, bonding gases
✓ all involves complex things working together
✓ (order and regularity)
➢DNA – indicates a design for the structure of organism
✓ Complexity (encoding, replication, repair/ self-correction)
✓ What is DNA? https://youtu.be/zwibgNGe4aY
✓ DNA - God's amazing programming; evidence for his existence
https://youtu.be/CBeCxKzYiIA
 Modern forms of Design Argument
➢ the process of evolution
✓ complex life forms develop from simple ones
over time
✓ humans have developed from single-celled
organisms
✓ needs to be guided
➢ beauties of nature
✓ sunsets, mountains
 Arguments
• Anything (complexity; order; purpose) that has been designed needs
a designer
• If the world has been designed, the world must have a designer
• The only possible designer of something as beautiful and complex as
the world would be God
• Therefore the appearance of design in the world proves that God
exists.
• This can lead people who are not sure about God’s existence to
believe that he exists. This also give extra reasons for believing in
God to the believers.
 Why the Design argument is important
for catholic beliefs about the nature of
God?
• God’s existence can be demonstrated by looking at his creation

Natural Revelation

• The existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty

through his works by the light of human reason. (CCC 286)
• Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine
nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen
through the things he has made. (Rom 1:20)
Why the Design argument is important for Catholic
beliefs about the nature of God?

• God wants humans to use their reason to understand

the world as well as the revelation he has given to the
Church:
• Since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them. (Rom 1:19)
God’s
• The universe works on fixed, logical principles designed omnipotence,
by God which have enabled humans to make all the wisdom and
discoveries science has made. benevolence
• God is the Creator of the universe and keeps it in
existence. (sustains)
Christians and most theists were convinced by
the Design Argument
• The argument only comes up with probabilities, therefore it can
continue to develop as new discoveries in science come along.
• The argument fits well with the biblical stories of creation, whether
these are understood literally or symbolically.
• Some developments of the argument, e.g. the anthropic principle
provide ways for ideas about evolution and belief in the existence of
God to work together.
 Atheist and Humanist rejection
• The argument does not prove God’s existence because:
• it ignores the evidence of lack of design in the universe e.g.
volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, diseases
• the Earth’s crust is made up of plates which do not fit together perfectly
• these sometimes push into each other and cause earthquakes and volcanoes
• These natural disasters seem to bring chaos to the world instead of
beauty/order/purpose
→ There might be no God
 Atheist and Humanist rejection
• All the evidence for design can be
explained by science without
needing to consider God. Science
says that matter is eternal and that
the universe began when this
matter exploded. The solar system
came out of the explosion, and the
nature of the earth allowed life to
develop through evolution.
 Atheist and Humanist rejection
• it does not refer to the existence of
dinosaurs, which must have been a part of
design, but no one thinks they could have
been part of a design plan for the world.
• the argument only proves that the
universe has a designer, but this is not
necessarily God. The designer could be
many gods, an evil creator, or a god who
used this universe as a trial run so that he
could create a better one.
 Differences
• The universe has come about
through the design of (an
Catholics almighty and loving) God
• (the order of the universe as a
sign of a creator)

Atheists and • The universe has come about

through random chance
Humanists
 Catholic Response

• Faith is about trust; trust in what cannot be absolutely proven

• The Church accepts that there is no absolute proof of a creator, but
also argues that there is no proof that there is not.
• Proof of God’s existence is an open question and one which the
Church feels comes down in favour of an intelligent creator.
• Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen … By faith we understand that the worlds were
prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from
things that are not visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3)
 Past Exam Questions
• Explain why some people believe the world appears to be designed.
• “There is no evidence for design in the universe.”
• “The universe is designed by God.”
• Outline how the appearance of design in the world can lead to a
belief in God.
• Explain how the appearance of design in the world may lead to, or
support, belief in God.
• ‘The world does not appear to have been designed.’