Article
Peyley's argument. Column in ComputerreOnline #25
This wonderful world – did it arise by itself, like a stone, or does it testify to the Timekeeper, like a clock?
Here I will discuss a worthy argument of evolution’s opponents. It was put forward in 1802 in *Natural Theology* by the English theologian William Paley. Paley’s book was part of his dispute with the philosopher David Hume and the physician‑poet Erasmus Darwin. Hume criticized the so‑called teleological proof of God’s existence, known since antiquity. Darwin believed that living organisms could adapt to their environment on their own.