The Design Argument (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A): Revision Note

What is the design argument?

• The design argument is an argument for the existence of God

  • It suggests that the world works in a way that makes it appear as if it were designed in a specific way

  • The argument is that if the world were designed, then someone or something must have designed it

• There are many examples used to support the argument that the world was designed so that it works properly. For example:

  • Trees take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen

  • The Earth is uniquely placed in the solar system so that it can support life, not too close to the sun that we burn up and not too far from the sun that we freeze

• The design argument rejects the idea that we were created by random chance or that we exist because of a Big Bang

• Many Christians believe this supports the belief in God the Creator (linked to Genesis 1)

  • This supports the idea of a purposeful Creator

• The design argument states that the human body is full of examples of the unique way we have been created

• Each person has unique fingerprints

  • The scientist Isaac Newton (1642–1727) used this fact as evidence of the existence of God: 

    • Newton argued that unique fingerprints suggest a designer rather than random chance

    • He said, “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence” (Isaac Newton)

• The design of the eye allows people to see many colours and shapes

• It can be claimed that all of the unique features of the human body suggest that they were designed rather than occurring by random chance

What are the different formulations of the design argument?

• The design argument suggests that the order, purpose and complexity in the world are the work of a designer God

  • Different philosophers have developed this argument in slightly different ways

William Paley and the design argument

• William Paley (1743–1805) compared the design of the universe to finding a watch:

  • He argued that a person walking on a moor (grassland area) who found a watch lying on the grass and saw how complicated it was would have to assume someone had made the watch

  • By looking at the watch, they would see that all the coils, springs and movements work together so that the watch is able to keep time

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• Paley compared this to the design of the world and argued that just as someone who found the watch would conclude that it was made by someone, the same applies to the universe

Anthropic principle

• The Anthropic Principle is the idea that the universe is finely tuned for life and that even small changes in physical laws would make life impossible:

  • This approach suggests that this precision couldn’t happen by chance

  • It supports the view that a rational mind (God) must have designed the universe deliberately for human life

  • This view is often used by modern theists who accept both science and religion

Aesthetic argument

• The Aesthetic Argument is the idea that the presence of beauty, art and music in the world goes beyond survival or evolution:

  • It is the belief that nature contains unnecessary beauty (things such as sunsets and beautiful music)

  • This idea suggests that a loving and artistic Creator made the world not just to function but to be appreciated

Intelligent design

• Intelligent Design is a modern view that some features of the universe are too complex to have evolved naturally:

  • This argument relates to some newly discovered systems (such as DNA), which are argued to have been intentionally created

  • This view is often criticised by scientists who say that the argument is not testable or scientific

  • It is often related to creationist views, but it is not part of mainstream science

What are the objections to the design argument?

• There are many people who believe that the design argument is not a convincing argument to prove the existence of God:

  • There are lots of things that do not work well in the world 

  • These make it hard to believe that there is a designer

    • For example, the Earth’s crust is made up of plates that do not fit together perfectly; they sometimes push into each other and cause earthquakes and volcanoes

Evolution

• Some people argue that the complexity of life can be explained by evolution, rather than being created by a designer:

  • According to Charles Darwin’s theory, species evolve over time through natural selection, so the appearance of design in nature can be explained by science

David Hume

• The philosopher David Hume (1711–1776) criticised the idea of God as designer and stated that the world is:

• Hume criticised Paley’s watch analogy, explaining that the universe might not be like a machine (like a watch), so comparing the two is not valid

  • He also questioned why a perfectly good God would create a universe with suffering and imperfection if He were the designer

Atheism

• Atheists argue that there are imperfections and flaws in nature that are inconsistent with the idea of a benevolent and all-powerful designer, including:

  • The existence of natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), which cause suffering

  • The suffering of animals in nature, such as contracting disease and being killed by predators

  • The wastefulness of evolution, in which many species become extinct 

• These imperfections suggest that the world may not have been designed by a perfect, all-knowing God

• Atheists also state that the design argument does not answer the question, “Who designed God?” 

• The idea of a designer may not solve the problem of origins but rather move it elsewhere:

  • Atheists argue that the design argument often falls into the trap of the “God of the Gaps” mistake

  • This means that whenever we don’t understand something (such as the complexity of life or the universe), some people attribute God as the explanation

  • However, as science advances, more natural explanations for complex phenomena are discovered, so the need to include God as an explanation becomes less important