Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,1–9, 2021 Spontaneous Article Science, metaphysics and Calvinism: the God of James Croll Diarmid A. FINNEGAN* Geography, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT7 1NN. *Corresponding author. Email: d.fi
[email protected] ABSTRACT: Science, for James Croll, began and ended in metaphysics. Metaphysics, in turn, pro- vided proof of a First and Final Cause of all things. This proof rested on two metaphysical principles: that every event must have a cause, and that the determination of a cause is distinct from its production. This argument emerged from his deeply held religious commitments. As a 17-year-old, he converted to a Calvinist and evangelical form of Christianity. After a period of questioning the Calvinist system, he embraced it again through reading the famous treatise on the will by the New England theologian, Jona- than Edwards. This determinedly metaphysical work, which engaged as much with Enlightenment thought as with Calvinism, defended the view that the will was not a self-determining cause of human action. This ‘hard case’ provided the basis for a larger claim that every act whatever has a cause, and that the production of an act was different from its determination. In part through reading Edwards, Croll remained a devout and convinced ‘moderate’ Calvinist for the rest of his life. He also developed a deep love of metaphysics and became convinced that without it, everything, including sci- ence, remained confused and in darkness. For Croll, even the most basic science could not be properly conducted without prior metaphysical principles.