Is That a Fake ID? Change to Something Better

Intelligent Design is a sort of pseudo-science that claims the universe shows evidence of a designer. Proponents of this teaching are those of religious beliefs and more specifically Christians. To be fair mainly six day creationists such as fundamentalists and some evangelicals. More traditional Christians such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox tend to have a mixed view of ID. ID has a good number of supporters and a quick search on the interweb will uncover many websites and books written on the subject. The big problem with ID is that it is a modern reworking of the teleological argument and its main teachers are not in any way scientists but those of faith attempting to convince us all with logic and clever arguments. I will now examine whether the logic behind ID is convincing enough to demand our attention.

William Paley

William Paley is by far the most well known advocate of the teleological argument and his explanation of the watchmaker is now infamous.  Paley argues that if we examine a watch with its minute springs, complex clockwork and intricate movement we can arrive at no other conclusion than the watch must have had a designer and a maker. No other possible explanation is possible as the watch is too complicated and well made to have simply come together by itself. The watch had a watchmaker who designed it for a specific purpose and function.

Intelligent Design

ID advocates use this same line of reasoning to argue the design and purpose of the universe. The universe is likened to Paley’s watch. The universe follows certain laws and just like a watch can only function with all its parts present. ID teachers claim that biological entitities can only function properly if all their parts are present, e.g. the human eye. They argue that biological entities are like a watch showing evidence of being designed and made for a purpose. This is known as irreducible complexity.

The Logic behind the Argument

Complex things, such as a watch or the eye, require a designer. Without all their component parts they would not function. A watch or an eye (or indeed the universe) is highly complex. This means that a watch, an eye or the entire universe must therefore have a designer. For ID advocates that designer must be God and more than that, that designer must be the Christian God.

What’s the problem?