William Paley's "Watch and the Watchmaker"
John Clohisy


Click to go to William Paley


William Paley's "Watch and the Watchmaker" argument for the existence of God used the splendor and intricacy of the universe (compared to a watch stumbled upon in the woods) and pointed to the consequential existence of God.

Premise 1: The existence of design necessarily points to a designer.
Premise 2: The universe exhibits marvelous design.
Conclusion: The universe has a designer.

Consider this hypothetical situation:
You are walking in a barren desert and come upon an iPod playing its own distinct music. Is there any chance that the iPod was constructed by the sand particles and wind behaving in a perfect manner to result in this solid, functional high-tech gadget? At least the answer seems to us, not at all! If one thinks about it, the world is an infinitely more complex system than our iPod, let alone our entire universe! They are filled with design which implies a creator. One of Paley's works, Evidences of Christianity is mainly a condensation of Bishop John Douglas's Criterion and Nathaniel Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History. These similar views can also be seen in the work of the ancient philosopher Cicero, especially in his De Natura Deorum

I heard this argument once a couple years ago and even though I have forgotten some of the detail, it is probably one of the logical reasons for explaining the existence of God that has stuck with me ever since. I strongly agree with the argument and it seems perfectly logical to me.

My Sources:
Roman Philosophy and Cicero
Significant Scots: Bishop John Douglas
Nathaniel Lardner