Philosophy 101 is an interesting class. My professor is usually very grumpy but he actually knows what he’s talking about so I just go on with it. He recently assigned the class 2 paragraphs. One paragraph has to explain the best argument for the existence of God and the other has to explain the non-existence of God. In arguing for the existence of God, I chose an argument called the “Watchmaker’s Argument.” This is my paragraph:
The maple tree has, in my opinion, given the world one of it’s greatest blessings; maple syrup. The maple tree, however, offers us more than just adding sweetness to a bland breakfast, it can, if you study it more closely, give us evidence for William Paley’s “Watchmaker Argument” when discussing the existence of God. Paley argued that the universe shows evidence of design and that if it was designed there must in fact be a designer, or a God. I find this argument convincing because of the maple tree. Maples reproduce, like any other tree, by dropping its seeds to the ground when they are fertile. But maple trees are different because their seeds are contained in what are called samaras. When I was younger I always referred to these samaras as “helicopters” or “whirlybirds” because when the maple tree drops their seeds they spin like a helicopter blade. I don’t think that samaras are an accident; it is too ingenious to be so. Not only are they fun to play with but they allow the maple tree, by use of the wind, to shower seeds in places it could never do so on it’s own.
