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Single Idea 21275
[filed under theme 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / b. Teleological Proof
]
Full Idea
When we come to inspect a watch we perceive (what we could not discover in a stone) that its several parts are put together for a purpose, to produce motion, and that motion so regulated as to point out the hour of the day.
Gist of Idea
Unlike a stone, the parts of a watch are obviously assembled in order to show the time
Source
William Paley (Natural Theology [1802], Ch 1)
Book Ref
'The Existence of God', ed/tr. Hick,John [Macmillan 1964], p.99
A Reaction
Microscopic examination of the stone would have surprised Paley. Should we infer a geometer because the sun is spherical? Crytals look designed, but are explained by deeper chemistry.
Related Ideas
Idea 21276
From the obvious purpose and structure of a watch we must infer that it was designed [Paley]
Idea 21278
All the signs of design found in a watch are also found in nature [Paley]
The
32 ideas
with the same theme
[order and harmony of nature proves God exists]:
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1499
|
Heraclitus says intelligence draws on divine reason
[Heraclitus, by Sext.Empiricus]
|
|
480
|
Past, present and future, and the movements of the heavens, were arranged by Mind
[Anaxagoras]
|
|
274
|
Soul must be the cause of all the opposites, such as good and evil or beauty and ugliness
[Plato]
|
|
21263
|
If all the motions of nature reflect calculations of reason, then the best kind of soul must direct it
[Plato]
|
|
13226
|
An Order controls all things
[Aristotle]
|
|
610
|
The world can't be arranged at all if there is nothing eternal and separate
[Aristotle]
|
|
2649
|
If tuneful flutes grew on olive trees, you would assume the olive had some knowledge of the flute
[Zeno of Citium]
|
|
5993
|
The ascending scale of living creatures requires a perfect being
[Cleanthes, by Tieleman]
|
|
2647
|
It is obvious from order that someone is in charge, as when we visit a gymnasium
[Cicero]
|
|
2650
|
If a person cannot feel the power of God when looking at the stars, they are probably incapable of feeling
[Cicero]
|
|
2655
|
If the barbarians of Britain saw a complex machine, they would be baffled, but would know it was designed
[Cicero]
|
|
2656
|
Chance is no more likely to create the world than spilling lots of letters is likely to create a famous poem
[Cicero]
|
|
20695
|
God's eternal power and deity are clearly seen in what has been created
[Paul]
|
|
22735
|
The original substance lacked motion or shape, and was given these by a cause
[Sext.Empiricus]
|
|
21808
|
Soul is author of all of life, and of the stars, and it gives them law and movement
[Plotinus]
|
|
5753
|
The regular events of this life could never be due to chance
[Boethius]
|
|
6819
|
True believers see that Allah made the night for rest and the day to give light
[Mohammed]
|
|
21273
|
Way 5: mindless things act towards an obvious end, so there is an intelligent director
[Aquinas]
|
|
17024
|
The elegance of the solar system requires a powerful intellect as designer
[Newton]
|
|
2595
|
If the universe is a perfect agreement of uncommunicating substances, there must be a common source
[Leibniz]
|
|
19417
|
All substances are in harmony, even though separate, so they must have one divine cause
[Leibniz]
|
|
19329
|
The laws of physics are wonderful evidence of an intelligent and free being
[Leibniz]
|
|
3949
|
It has been proved that creation is the workmanship of God, from its beauty and usefulness
[Berkeley]
|
|
6962
|
The thing which contains order must be God, so see God where you see order
[Hume]
|
|
21277
|
Even an imperfect machine can exhibit obvious design
[Paley]
|
|
21275
|
Unlike a stone, the parts of a watch are obviously assembled in order to show the time
[Paley]
|
|
21276
|
From the obvious purpose and structure of a watch we must infer that it was designed
[Paley]
|
|
21278
|
All the signs of design found in a watch are also found in nature
[Paley]
|
|
21357
|
No organ shows purpose more obviously than the eyelid
[Paley]
|
|
1451
|
Design is seen in the way ideas match the world, in the mechanisms of evolution, and in values
[Tennant,FR, by PG]
|
|
23892
|
The only legitimate proof of God by order derives from beauty
[Weil]
|
|
20707
|
The universe exhibits design either in its sense of purpose, or in its regularity
[Davies,B]
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