Abstract

The argument from design for God's existence is involved with important questions about the conditions under which it is reasonable to believe that a state of affairs was brought about intentionally. In this paper I shall offer a version of the argument and defend it, if not quite in the sense of trying to show conclusively that it succeeds, then, at least, in the sense of trying to show that it deserves to be taken seriously. In Part I, I shall present a number of objections to the argument that, for the most part, are quite well known and, I think, quite weighty. Most are descendants of objections to be found in the writings of David Hume.l Then, in Part II, I shall present the specific version of the argument I wish to offer here and, finally, in Part III, try to show that it does not succumb to the objections raised at the start.