Although he never experienced the poverty of some lesser clergy, he attained genuine affluence only when he was translated to the lucrative rectorship of Bishop-Wearmouth in 1795. Paley’s political thought demonstrated that utilitarianism need not be a radical doctrine. In the Evidences, Paley proceeds along historical lines to affirm the truth of Christianity by two propositions; namely, that “there is clear proof that the apostles and their successors underwent the greatest hardships rather than give up the Gospel and cease to obey its precepts” and that “other miracles than those of the Gospel are not satisfactorily attested.” To these he appends “auxiliary” … London: C. and J. Rivington, 1825. Paley wrote standard works on the evidences for Christianity. Herbert Spencer, Principles of Ethics (1887), Hodgskin on the Natural Right to Property (1832), Hutcheson on Logic, Metaphysics & Sociability, Hutcheson’s Annotated Table of Contents to Philosophiae Moralis, Shaftesbury’s Aesthetics & Moral Philosophy. 6, Nineteenth Century Oxford, Part I (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 210. 3, 1750–1870 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 295–313. William Paley, 1743-1805. During the 1800th century, William Paley, an English philosopher of religion and ethics, wrote the essay The Argument from Design. He listed the factors to be evaluated, arguing that the larger social interest bound its individual parts. [11. White, 1789), 33–34, 200. In 1771, William Eden published his Principles of Penal Law which, influenced by Montesquieu and Beccaria, argued that the severity of punishment, including the death penalty, rarely deterred crime. ]Le Mahieu, 10–19. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1976. Paley’s most important works were The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), the subject of lectures at the University of Cambridge; A View of the Evidence of Christianity (1794), which was required reading for entrance to Cambridge until the 20th century; and Natural Theology (1802), based on John Ray’s Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691). In particular his book, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity. Paxton, J. The book strongly influenced Charles Darwin. Counter-objection: Paley confuses descriptive law with prescriptive law ( i.e., the fallacy of equivocation ). Educated at Giggleswick School and Christ’s College, Cambridge, Paley graduated in 1763 as senior wrangler and was appointed fellow and tutor of his college in 1766. [9. It is the assumption of the Bible, which starts with the words “In the beginning, God…” and nowhere makes any attempt to prove the existence of God. As in his analysis of evil in his Natural Theology, no exception disproved a general rule. His theological utilitarianism helped buttress the formation of classical liberalism, the most important political ideology to emerge from the Enlightenment. William Paley (1743-1805) was an English vicar and philosopher of the Enlightenment. Although the younger Pitt, a Tory, introduced reform bills in the 1780s, it would be almost fifty years before the Reform Bill of 1832 extended the vote. The name William Paley is not commonly known. THE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND JAMES YORK, D.D., LORD BISHOP OF ELY My LORD, When, five years ago, an important station in the University of Cambridge awaited your Lordship's disposal, you were pleased to offer it to me. In Natural Theology, William Paley set out to prove the existence of God from the evidence of the beauty and order of the natural world. 1794. Paley argues that life is possible on Earth because the orbits of planets are so regular. Once again, God’s designs set the standard for moral deliberation. Without knowing it, my grandmother spent those trips teaching us philosophy, specifically the Teleological Argument for the existence of God. He also justified the institution of property on the basis of its expediency for society. Paley’s remark can be found in George Wilson Meadley, Memoirs of William Paley, D.D., 2nd ed. Property increased productivity and eliminated civil struggles over ownership. Each component served its own purpose while contributing to the functioning of the whole. Adopted as an integral part of the curriculum at Cambridge University, the Principles helped shape the political thinking of England’s intellectual elite well into the nineteenth century. Paley, William (1743–1805). Charity promoted their happiness and served the larger designs of God. The teleological argument _______ made the pragmatic argument that believing in God was "rational" insofar as it doesn't conflict with our other beliefs and it tends to make us lead better lives. For readers today, the Principles offers insights into a complex era of intellectual history. ]William Paley, The Works of William Paley, D.D, vol. In fact, on specific points, Paley borrowed heavily from the Cambridge divine Thomas Rutherforth who, because of a private feud, he never acknowledged.7, The theological utilitarians rejected the notion of a moral sense, arguing with Locke that nothing could be innate to the mind. God created within human nature feelings of empathy intended to ease suffering. Within the context of his life and thought, then, the Principles eventually became part of a coherent philosophic system that Paley synthesized from the Enlightenment in England and bequeathed as undergraduate texts to the nineteenth century. Waterman, A. M. C. Revolution, Economics and Religion: Christian Political Economy, 1798–1833. We'd pretend to bounce like kangaroos, stand like flamingos, and stretch like giraffes. The Works of William Paley, D.D. In The Argument from Design, Paley tries to prove the existence of a supreme being through the development of a special kind … In 1790, five years after the Principles, he published his most original study, Horae Paulinae, an exegesis of certain “undesigned coincidences” in the Acts and letters of Paul. In an era noted for satire and bitter polemic, moralists argued their differences with mutual respect precisely because they operated within a shared intellectual framework. His Natural Theology continues to have a profound and lasting impact on the argument from biological design. The influence of the Principles on nineteenth-century thought often involved paradoxes and unintended consequences, a fate that would not have astonished Paley. In 1750, for example, the novelist Henry Fielding published a work that explored the problem of crime and was flattered when, a few years later, a committee appointed by the House of Commons recommended acceptance of some of his suggestions. His specific version of theological utilitarianism finds no converts today, but his prescriptions for the good life transcend the historical context which produced them. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The parable of the pigeons, striking in its stark perception of human depravity, served as a rhetorical device to initiate a dialectical argument with his readers, much as he had done with his students at Cambridge. Paley’s great strengths as a writer—clear organization, lucid prose, striking examples—evolved from his years as an instructor of undergraduates.4, At Cambridge, Paley associated himself with Latitudinarians that included John Law, Richard Watson, and John Jebb. To be sure, Paley followed the general prescriptions of Tucker’s theological utilitarianism, but the vast mass of Tucker’s ponderous work finds no parallel in the Principles. Paxton, J. Famously beginning by comparing the world to a watch, whose design is self-evident, he goes on to provide examples from biology, anatomy, and astronomy in order to demonstrate the intricacy and ingenuity of design that could only come from Here is an argument form that clarifies that Paley isn’t concerned with the part-whole relationship. [1. He often challenged the complacent assumptions of his undergraduates, himself advocating a position so extreme that his students were forced to clarify their own opinions in relation to it. Yet, as in nature where God adapted the various mechanisms of the eye for the purpose of seeing, each person must individually adapt themselves to their chosen end. His Evidences of Christianity challenges readers on a historical and exegetical level with arguments for the faith. Source: Introduction to Paley's The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, Foreword by D.L. He was less paradoxical when it came to charity. The notion of Christian engagement thereby dovetailed conveniently into Paley’s general theory of value.