Known for his wit, skepticism, and scathing critique of religion, Voltaire was a well-known French writer and philosopher during the Enlightenment. He lived during a time when intellectuals were beginning to embrace the idea of deism, which holds that God is a rational creator rather than a personal deity involved in day-to-day human affairs.

Though not frequently directly cited, one of Voltaire's well-known ideas is that the universe must have been created by an intelligent being if it is complex and orderly. In addition to opposing deism, this viewpoint refutes atheistic claims that complex systems can exist naturally without the need for a creator.

Think of the world as an elaborate clockwork mechanism that is precisely adjusted to keep time. Voltaire's thought experiment is similar to pondering how a machine of that complexity could exist without someone having constructed it. He finds it unthinkable that there could be a watch with order and purpose but no watchmaker or designer.

Voltaire's viewpoint is consistent with his larger philosophical position that intelligent design is implied by the complexity of the universe and life. But he also understood that conventional religious doctrines needed to be critically questioned. He is at the center of Enlightenment discussions concerning faith, reason, and human comprehension of the universe because of this nuanced viewpoint.

Thus, Voltaire's thoughts on this subject demonstrate his well-rounded approach to philosophical investigation, which questions and seeks logical consistency in our explanations for the complexity of the world rather than naively accepting or rejecting the existence of a designer behind the cosmic clockwork.