teleological argument

American  

noun

Metaphysics.

1. the argument for the existence of God based on the assumption that order in the universe implies an orderer and cannot be a natural feature of the universe.

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teleological argument British  

noun

1. Also called: argument from design.  philosophy the argument purporting to prove the existence of God from empirical facts, the premise being that the universe shows evidence of order and hence design Compare ontological argument cosmological argument

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

teleological argument

Thomas Aquinas’s Five Ways is known as a teleological argument for the existence of God from the presence of design in experience.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

The "Critique of Pure Reason" of Kant demolished the ontological and the cosmological arguments for the existence of God and showed the weakness in the teleological argument.

From The Necessity of Atheism by Brooks, David Marshall

Our analysis of the development of thought, feeling, and will, has an important bearing on the teleological argument.

From A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution by Williams, C. M.

But, looking to the "present state of our knowledge," this is merely to change the teleological argument in its gross Paleyian form, into the argument from the ubiquitous operation of general laws.'

From Thoughts on Religion by Gore, Charles

Nor is the case essentially different with the more refined form of the teleological argument which we have had to consider—the argument, namely, from General Laws.

From A Candid Examination of Theism by Romanes, George John