Teleology 101: The Watchmaker argument

In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer, that, for anything I knew to the contrary, it had lain there forever:
nor would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer I had before given, that for anything I knew, the watch might have always been there. (...) There must have existed, at some time, and at some place or other, an artificer or artificers, who formed [the watch] for the purpose which we find it actually to answer; who comprehended its construction, and designed its use. (...) Every indication of contrivance, every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature; with the difference, on the side of nature, of being greater or more, and that in a degree which exceeds all computation.

William Paley, Natural Theology (1802)


 

Q:  In what sense is the Watchmaker analogy a teleolgical argument.  What seems to be the point of the story?



The watchmaker analogy consists of the comparison of some natural phenomenon to a watch. Typically, the analogy is presented as a prelude to the teleological argument and is generally presented as:

       The complex inner workings of a watch necessitate an intelligent designer.

      As with a watch, the complexity of X (a particular organ or organism, the structure of the solar system, life, the entire universe) necessitates a designer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmaker_analogy

        




Bridge: Which world views -- or what approaches to the question of origins --assume teleology; which preclude it?




Q: Which of these concepts of origins are associated with teleology?

Special creation, Intelligent Design, Naturalistic (Darwinian) Evolution, Theistic Evolution, panspermia, etc.)

Q: Do you think the watchmaker argument offers strong support for the conclusion that the universe (or complex biological systems) are designed?


Q: If you were to object to the watchmaker analogy, on what grounds would you do so… (or, on what grounds do you think others who do object to this analogy do so?