Natural theology
or, Evidences of the existence and attributes of the deity, collected from the appearances of nature
by William Paley · first published 1802
5mentions
0recommended by
5HN commenters
2009–2024first – last mentioned
100% neutral
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The article was quite difficult to read, the point was often lost in historical recaps and relationships between historical figures. The central premise is wrong, natural theology was dicussed by hume and paley, but neither of their arguments disprove it. Arguments about 'proving' god using end up being arguments about what 'kind' of evidence qualifies as proof, which is not explored…
on “For natural theologians, proving God was beside the point” ↗…written beautifully. But I also have the requisite beliefs to address the subject matter - sorta like trying to grok algebra without understanding division or multiplication. >The central premise is wrong, natural theology was dicussed by hume and paley, but neither of their arguments disprove it. This is a misunderstanding, I think, because the author was saying Hume and Paley are examples of natural theology, they weren't…
on “For natural theologians, proving God was beside the point” ↗…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought Lamark’s main works were from the turn of the 19th century, as was Cuvier’s work on extinction, and Darwin’s uncle Erasmus’s descriptions of “metamorphoses”. Paley’s Natural Theology, which originated the famous “watchmaker” analogy for God, was from 1802. The Vestiges, published anonymously in 1844, sparked massive controversy that was the talk of “educated” people throughout the…
on “Tell HN: PG revises 3 essays” ↗…is not scientific research, but the book IMHO is a surprisingly effective and professional weaving of philosophy, history of philosophy, popular science, and history of science toward consideration of Natural Theology. Point 1: Shannon applies. Point 2: s/supporting a hypothesis/required to support an interpretation/ He acknowledges IIRC that we do not know ranges for potential tunings of physical constants, if that…
on “Why this universe? New calculation suggests our cosmos is typical” ↗…world through the Christian worldview does not have some kind of burden of proving Christianity. >I present some of my own thinking below... What you've outlined here is actually firmly in the scope of natural theology, the project of establishing certain theological claims through human reason alone, though not all Christians agree that this project is successful. You may be interested in section 5 of chapter 2 of…
on “What if I’m wrong? (2023)” ↗