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argument from design
(redirected from Teleological argument)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

argument from design

 or teleological argument

Argument for the existence of God. According to one version, the universe as a whole is like a machine; machines have intelligent designers; like effects have like causes; therefore, the universe as a whole has an intelligent designer, which is God. The argument was propounded by medieval Christian thinkers, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, and was developed in great detail in the 17th and 18th centuries by writers such as Samuel Clarke (1675–1729) and William Paley. It was powerfully criticized by David Hume in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Immanuel Kant also rejected the argument. In the late 20th century the argument was revived as the doctrine of intelligent design. See also creationism.



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The teleological argument of the ancients, then, appears with a new meaning, a meaning that is reinforced and supplemented with copious new data that our ever-more sophisticated instruments have generated, but data that was never before looked at by hearts yearning for solace in the wake of an earthquake or hurricane.
 
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