Argument from design This is the watchmaker argument, one of the
earliest formal expressions of the argument from design. "In
crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone and
were asked how the stone came to be there, I might possibly
answer that for anything I knew to the contrary it had lain
there forever; nor would it, perhaps, be very easy to show the
absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon
the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to
be in that place, I should hardly think of the answer which I
had before given, that for anything I knew the watch might have
always been there." - — William Paley, Natural Theology (1802) -
The appearance of design is subjective. What features denote
design? Complexity? Order? Beauty? Suitability to a purpose? Any
of these can be lacking in objects we know to be designed (i.e.,
manufactured by humans). We recognize designed objects by
comparison with previously known designed objects and by
contrasting them with natur