Hume's Objections to the Teleological Argument

The Teleological Arguments
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The Teleological Argument
The teleological argument, also recognized as the design argument, is a discussion about the existence of God. It refers to a claim that nature, as it appears, is a result of design instead of by chance. The complexities, organization, purposefulness, and functionality of living organisms as seen in the world point to sophistication and organization that depicts a presence of a supernatural being as the creator, who is God (Davies & Davies, 1993, pp. 95-96). The argument coined by different philosophers involves drawing parallels between designs in the universe.
William Paley is a crucial thinker about the premise of the design argument. His assertion made comparisons with a watch. He argued that by looking at a watch, how the different cogs and gear work together to ensure it smoothly works as it does, you would conclude that there was someone behind its formation and unswerving working. Similarly, the order, balance, constancy, and patterns that make life and the universe work together in a logical manner points to the presence of a purpose (Davies & Davies, 1993, p. 98). The universe is a replica of purposeful human artifacts, which are acts of intention instead of chance. Therefore, they are a product of intentional design by a superior being who could only be God.
Similarly, the argument is poised from a biological perspective. A study of the human body depicts an intricacy in which the different body parts, such as bones, connect the various body parts, making them function as intended. Thomas Aquinas also uses the archer narrative to support the argument. He argues that everything present in the universe is purposeful as created by God, just as an archer gives a purpose to an arrow.
Best objection to the teleological argument
The best objection to the teleological argument, in my opinion, is by David Hume. Hume objects to the teleological argument based on lack of evidence. When we claim that a phenomenon exists, there should be evidence of an observed pattern of its existence. However, in the teleological argument, a pattern of observed correlations between the universe and God as its designer is not present (Gaskin, 1976, p. 332). Therefore, the absence of valid evidence to support this premise refutes the argument as it cannot be the best explanation for a design argument.
Hume also objects to the argument based on regress of explanation. He believes that the supposed supernatural being has to be explained just like everything else present in the world to be valid. However, this is not the case as the teleolo...