Krochmal on the Argument from Design

For the nineteenth century Jewish Galician philosopher, Nachman Krochal (1785-1840), the argument from design is the most powerful argument for the existence of the Deity in all of Jewish literature. This paper is divided into seven parts, each one of which intends to give the audience a better understanding of the argument from design. In each part, the argument s compared and contrastd with other arguments for and against the existence of the Deity from classical Western philosophers to contemporary Western philosophers. Historical and contemporary objections to the argument from design are analyzed including arguments from Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant and Bertrand Russell. The thesis of this paper is that the argument from design, though not a proof of the existence of the Deity, remains the most powerful argument for the existence of the Deity. In addition, in contrast to the other arguments for the existence of the Deity, such as the various ontological arguments, it is the metaphysical argument for the existence of the Deity closest to the nature of the Deity of worship of the Jewish religion.