The Exsistence Of God

The Existence of God

The existence of God is one of the most debatable questions of all time. Many people have changed their believes and religions because of the dispute of this question. After many attempt of trying to prove the existence of God, there is still no certain answer because the arguments for both sides make good sense. For example, two major philosophers that touched this subject very well are David Hume and William Paley. Both of these philosophers have great points and example which support the idea of God’s existence. In addition, even though both Hume and Paley have different examples, the both seem to share similar ideas.

In the philosophy of religion, David Hume is probably most well known for his discussion of the design argument for the existence of God. In this argument he questions the validity of certain religious beliefs. In reality he does not really have arguments against the design argument, but instead takes some of its key points to make them unacceptable. Hume presents his understanding of it as part of a discussion between the characters Philo, Cleanthes and Demea. It almost seems that Philo probably represents Hume's real view although this not something certain. Demea, states that “no man; no man, at least of common sense, I am persuaded, ever entertained a serious doubt with regard to a truth so certain and self evident”. Cleanthes, the advocate of what Hume calls “natural religion,” says that “religion, however corrupted, is still better than no religion at all”. Even Philo, speaking to Cleanthes about his own beliefs, says that “no one has a deeper sense of religion impressed on his mind, or pays more profound adoration to the Divine Being”. The objective of their debate is not whether or not God exists, but how to approach the existence and nature of God using philosophy. Thus one could argue that Hume actually accepts that the universe can be understood as exhibiting design but he seems to reject the validity of the design argument as a means for explaining the existence of God. Hume is not denying the existence of God but simply exposing the weakness of the arguments being proposed here to justify such a God's existence.

William Paley's watchmaker argument is a more detailed design argument that tries to avoid Hume's objection to the analogy between worlds and artifacts. In Paley’s example of the watchmaker, he uses the design of the watch as an example of our world, and the watchmaker as a greater being, God. Instead of simply stating a similarity between the material world and some human artifact, Paley's argument continues by identifying what he takes to be a reliable indicator of an intelligent design. In Paley’s argument he states:

“Suppose I found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place, I should hardly think … that, for anything I knew, the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for a stone that happened to be lying on the ground?… For this reason, and for no other; viz., that, if the different parts had been differently shaped from what they are, if a different size from what they are, or placed after any other manner, or in any order than that in which they are placed, either no motion at all would have been carried on in the machine, or none which would have answered the use that is now served by it.”

There are therefore two features of a watch that indicate that it is the result of an intelligent design. First, it performs a function that an intelligent design would regard as valuable; the fact that the watch performs the function of keeping time is something that has value to an intelligent design. Second, the watch could not perform this function if its parts or mechanisms were differently sized or arranged; the way that the ability of a watch to keep time depends on the precise shape, size, and arrangement of its parts. This suggests that the watch has these characteristics because some intelligent design made it to these