Read William Paley, "The Watch and the Human Eye," (pp. 91-102 in Feldman).

I have extracted what I take to be Paley's argument.  It is a two-part argument:

Part 1
1. The universe and things in it exhibit design and purpose.
2. The best explanation for the fact that the universe and things in it exhibit design and purpose is that the universe and things in it were created and designed by an intelligent designer.
3. If 1 and 2, then there is good reason to believe that that the universe and things in it were created and designed by an intelligent designer.
4. Therefore, there is good reason to believe that that the universe and things in it were created and designed by an intelligent designer.                                                                                                            Conj. and MP

Part 2
4. There is good reason to believe that that the universe and things in it were created and designed by an intelligent designer.
5. If there is good reason to believe that that the universe and things in it were created and designed by an intelligent designer, then there is good reason to believe that God exists.
6. Therefore, there is good reason to believe that God exists.                 MP

1. Explain each line of the argument.  That is, give the rationale Paley would give for each premise.  Put these rationales in your own words rather than quoting straight out of the article.  Be sure to define the one technical term that appears in the argument.  (You don't need to explain line 4 (in either place in which it appears) since it is the conclusion of a valid argument.  Likewise for line 6.)

2. In several places, the argument mentions "good reason to believe."  What sort of reason, of the two we discussed in class, is meant here.

In the penultimate section of the article, Paley discusses four possible objections to his argument.

3. Present the first such objection, the one having to do with "Imperfections in the Mechanism."  Be sure to say which premise of the argument this objection denies.  How does Paley respond to this objection?  What do you think about this objection?

4. Present the third objection, the one having to do with "The Possible Role of Chance."  Be sure to say which premise of the argument this objection denies.  How does Paley respond to this objection?  What do you think about this objection?

5. The fourth objection is based on "The Theory of the Elimination of the Unfit."  The theory Paley has in mind here is not what we would recognize today as the theory of the theory of evolution.  Instead of presenting the objection Paley discusses, present your own objection to Paley's argument based on the theory of evolution.  Do you find this objection convincing?

Extra Credit (for up to ten extra points on Exam #3)
Maybe the theory of evolution undermines all teleological arguments based on the observation that human beings and their parts exhibit design.  But there is another kind of teleological argument for the existence of God that has recently enjoyed a lot of attention.  The argument is called The Fine-Tuning Argument.  Your extra credit assignment is to do a little bit of research and figure out what the Fine-Tuning Argument is.  I'd like you to
(a) Present and Explain the argument in your own words.  (You can do it either in a line-by-line format or in a paragraph.)
(b) Cite the source from which you learned about the Fine-Tuning Argument.  (Don't plagiarize -- you won't like the consequences.)
(c) Why is the Fine-Tuning Argument thought to be stronger than Paley's teleological argument.
(d) What do you think?  Is the Fine-Tuning argument convincing?

Your typed, single-spaced answer is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, December 6.

I encourage you to work together in groups.  However, you must write up and turn in your own version of the answer.  If I get any duplicate or near-duplicate answers, I will divide the score on the homework evenly among the answers.