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Durham E-Theses The Science and Logic of William Paley's Moral Philosophy WANG, CAN How to cite: WANG, CAN (2021) The Science and Logic of William Paley's Moral Philosophy , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/14004/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk The Science and Logic of William Paley's Moral Philosophy Can Wang ABSTRACT William Paley's The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy is one of the most influential modern works of theological utilitarianism. His views on moral philosophy, evidentialism and natural theology were required reading in English universities up until the 1850s. It is the purpose of this thesis to argue that Paley believed his moral philosophy to be a science that operated according to logical principles. Chapter 1 outlines the intellectual environment, religious context and secondary literature about Paley’s moral philosophy. Chapter 2 avers that Paley used Scripture and personal experience as evidence for providing a rational basis for moral knowledge. Focusing on the notion of moral law, Chapter 3 discusses the innovative principles of happiness and expediency through which Paley created a criterion of conduct that was grounded on rational evidence. Last but not least, since the Principles was a textbook in the Cambridge syllabus, Chapter 4, argues that Paley adopted a more accessible synthetic method of argumentation for educational purposes. The conclusion explains how the thesis’s argument extends and challenges current interpretations of Paley’s ideas. I The Science and Logic of William Paley's Moral Philosophy Can Wang MA by Thesis Department of Philosophy Durham University 2020 II Table of Contents Chapter 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 1 The Intellectual Context of William Paley ....................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Paley’s Intellectual Context ....................................................................................................... 3 2. Paley’s Intellectual Orientation ................................................................................................. 7 3. Paley’s Religious Context ......................................................................................................... 13 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 18 The Evidentiary Foundations of Moral Philosophy ....................................................................... 18 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 18 1. Reason and Evidence............................................................................................................... 19 2. Scripture as Testimonial Evidence ........................................................................................... 23 3. The Credibility of Scripture ..................................................................................................... 26 4. Evidence from Experience ....................................................................................................... 31 5. The Credibility of Evidence from Experience .......................................................................... 34 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 40 Moral Law and the Principle of Expediency .................................................................................. 40 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 40 1. Inadequate Laws and Instincts ................................................................................................ 40 2. The Principle of Happiness ...................................................................................................... 48 3. The Principle of Expediency .................................................................................................... 56 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 66 Logic, Argumentation and Moral Knowledge ................................................................................ 66 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 66 1. The Theories of Eighteenth-Century Logic .............................................................................. 66 2. The Dissatisfaction with Syllogism .......................................................................................... 70 3. Two methods of argumentation of the eighteenth-century logic: analysis and synthesis ..... 78 4. The Didactical function of synthesis in Paley’s moral philosophy ........................................... 80 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 83 Conclusion of Thesis ....................................................................................................................... 85 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 89 III Acknowledgements: First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Matthew Daniel Eddy for his keen wit and his patient reading and re-reading of this thesis. Secondly, I am truly grateful for the support and advice given by the faculty and staff of Durham University's Philosophy Department. Also, I must warmly thank Thomas Rossetter for the many conversations we had in a coffee shop. And finally, I must express my most sincere love for my family and Xuan Zhao, my lifelong friend. IV Declaration: The material contained in the thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree at this or any other university. V Statement of Copyright: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. VI “First accumulate a mass of Facts: and then construct a Theory.” That, I believe, is the true Scientific Method. —Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno VII Chapter 1 The Intellectual Context of William Paley Introduction During the period between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, William Paley's The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy was probably the most famous and influential work about theological utilitarianism. Paley is best known as an outstanding Christian apologist, however, he was highly praised as a moralist as well in that period. After its first publication in 1785, the Principles almost immediately became a textbook in the Cambridge syllabus, and remained so for many years. In other words, Paley’s Principles formed the cornerstone of the Cambridge curriculum. Twenty-one editions, including fifteen editions during Paley’s lifetime demonstrate that the Principles not only established the author’s reputation, but also was a widely-read book even after Paley’s death. Historians honor this book because of its vital contribution to eighteenth-century English ethics and its possible influence on American Christianity today. As such an influential book, it is definitely worthy of further attention. After explaining the intellectual context of Paley’s moral philosophy in Chapter 1, this thesis is divided into three parts to argue that his moral philosophy was an eighteenth-century probabilistic form of science. Chapter 2 explains that Paley regarded scriptural testimony and personal experience as credible evidence in the Principles. According to the eighteenth-century definition of science, moral decision-making was based on the high probabilities derived from credible evidence. In other words, one of Paley’s goals in the Principles