One unit, one ladder — climbed by Paley, attacked by Hume, audited for proof. Does the order of nature point to a designing God?
Does the appearance of design in nature prove — or even make probable — the existence of God?
The whole unit lines up on one axis. Paley climbs from observation to God; Hume attacks each rung; the verdict asks what is left. Pick a lesson, then tap a position to see what it claims and where it's strong or weak.
Tap a circle — or use Tab and Enter — to explore each position.
Top answers don't treat the three debates separately. Two ideas run through all of them — spot the thread and you're writing at the top of the mark scheme.
Observation → purpose → designer → God. Every claim in the unit lives on a rung — and the evidence thins as you climb.
Paley's own method caps the argument at probability. Half the exam questions turn on what 'prove' is allowed to mean.
Hume died before Paley published, yet every rung has a Humean attack and a Paleyan reply. Stage the dialogue and you're at the top of the mark scheme.
The unit splits into three lessons. They look different, but each is really asking how far up the ladder the evidence reaches.
Everything for the unit, in one place. Open a sub-topic's lesson, booklet and podcast, and use the Philosopher Companion across all three.
LINKS list near the bottom, and paste each SharePoint share link once. Buttons with no link show as “Link not set”.
Use your resources in this order. The Philosopher Companion is where you learn to plan both question types.
One podcast per lesson — a teacher and student talk each position through to a judgement. Annotate as you listen.
Read the given text, write the key claims in your own words, then decide the strength and weakness you'd give each position.
In the Companion: match each term to its meaning, then use it in a sentence. RAG-rate the mastery checklist with the three faces.
Use the Companion frameworks and the guidance-left / your-turn-right scaffolds. Never evaluate what you haven't first explained.
A full review of the Design Argument — Paley's ladder, Hume's criticisms, and the verdict on proof, reason and faith. Best watched before you start revising, then again to check your recall.
Teacher: paste the YouTube link in the VIDEO_URL line near the bottom of this file. The player then appears here automatically.
Flip a card to check yourself. Switch between key terms (term → meaning) and positions (position → claim, strength & weakness), and filter by lesson.