3) Arguments based on observation

Question 1

What did Paley say about purpose?

Answer 1

Paley compared the eye to a watch, stating that just as a watch’s intricate mechanisms imply a watchmaker, the eye’s complexity and purposeful design imply the existence of a divine creator. This analogy is central to his teleological argument, which posits that the order and purpose found in nature point to an intelligent designer

Question 2

What did Paley say about regularity?

Answer 2

He pointed to phenomena like the movement of planets and the changing of seasons as evidence of a purposeful design. Paley argued that such regularity could not occur by chance and must be the result of an intelligent designer—God.

Question 3

What are Aquinas’ three ways?

Answer 3

Motion: Everything in motion is moved by something else; there must be a First Mover (God).

Causation: All effects have causes; there must be a First Cause (God).

Contingency: Contingent things depend on something else; there must be a Necessary Being (God).