William Paley

• Honorific Prefix — The Reverend • Name — William Paley • Born — July 1743 • Birthplace — Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England • Died — 25 May 1805 July 1743 • Place of death — Bishopwearmouth, County Durham, England • Fields — Moral philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of religion • Workplaces — Giggleswick Grammar School, Christ's College, Cambridge, Giggleswick Parish, Carlisle Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, Durham Cathedral • Education — Christ's College, Cambridge • Awards — Members' Prize, Cambridge (1765) • Known for — Natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God Watchmaker analogy

Paley was born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England, and was educated at Giggleswick School, of which his father, also called William, was headmaster for half a century, and, like his father and great-uncle, at Christ's College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1763 as senior wrangler and became fellow in 1766, and in 1768 tutor of his college. He lectured on Samuel Clarke, Joseph Butler and John Locke in his systematic course on moral philosophy, which subsequently formed the basis of his Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy; and on the New Testament, his own copy of which is in the British Library. The subscription controversy was then agitating the university, and Paley pushed an anonymous defence of a pamphlet in which the Master of Peterhouse and Bishop of Carlisle Edmund Law had advocated the retrenchment and simplification of the Thirty-nine Articles; he did not, however, sign the petition (called the "Feathers Tavern" petition from the place in which it was agreed) for a relaxation of the terms of subscription to the Articles. He was also a strong supporter of the American colonies during the Revolutionary War, partly because he thought that it would lead to the destruction of slavery. He studied philosophy. In 1776, Paley was presented to the rectory of Musgrave in Westmorland, which was exchanged soon after for Appleby. He was subsequently made vicar of Dalston in 1780, near the bishop's palace at Rose Castle. In 1782, he became the Archdeacon of Carlisle. Paley was intimate with the Law family throughout his life, and the Bishop and his son John Law (who was later an Irish bishop) were instrumental during the decade after he left Cambridge in pressing him to publish his revised lectures and in negotiating with the publisher. In 1782, Edmund Law, otherwise the mildest of men, was most particular that Paley should add a book on political philosophy to the moral philosophy, which Paley was reluctant to write. The book was published in 1785 under the title of The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, and was made a part of the examinations at the University of Cambridge the next year. It passed through fifteen editions in the author's lifetime. Paley strenuously supported the abolition of the slave trade, and his attack on slavery in the book was instrumental in drawing greater public attention to the practice. In 1789, a speech that he gave on the subject in Carlisle was published. The Principles was followed in 1790 by his first essay in the field of Christian apologetics, Horae Paulinae, or the Truth of the Scripture History of St Paul which compared Paul's Epistles with the Acts of the Apostles, making use of "undesigned coincidences" to argue that these documents mutually supported each other's authenticity. Some have said this book was the most original of Paley's works. It was followed in 1794 by the celebrated View of the Evidences of Christianity, which was also added to the examinations at Cambridge, remaining on the syllabus until the 1920s. For his services in defence of the faith, with the publication of the Evidences, the Bishop of London gave him a stall in St Paul's, the Bishop of Lincoln made him subdean of that cathedral and the Bishop of Durham conferred upon him the rectory of Bishopwearmouth. During the remainder of Paley's life, his time was divided between Bishopwearmouth and Lincoln, and he wrote Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity despite his increasingly debilitating illness. He died on 25 May 1805 and is buried in Carlisle Cathedral with his two wives. Among his grandsons were the classical scholar Frederick Apthorp Paley (1815–1888) and his brother the architect Edward Graham Paley (1823–1895), sons of the Rev. Edmund Paley (1782–1850).

Paley's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy was one of the most influential philosophical texts in late Enlightenment Britain. It was cited in several parliamentary debates over the Corn Laws in Britain and in debates in the US Congress. The book remained a set textbook at Cambridge well into the Victorian era. Charles Darwin, as a student of theology, was required to read it when he did his undergraduate studies at Christ's College, but it was Paley's Natural Theology that most impressed Darwin even though it was not a set book for undergraduates. Portraits of Paley and Darwin face each other at Christ's College to this day. • Illustration — Title Page of William Paley's Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, 1802 Paley is also remembered for his contributions to the philosophy of religion, utilitarian ethics and Christian apologetics. In 1802, near the end of his life, he published Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, his last book. As he states in the preface, he saw the book as a preamble to his other philosophical and theological books; in fact, he suggests that Natural Theology should be read first to build a systematic understanding of his arguments. The main thrust of his argument was that God's design of the whole creation could be seen in the general happiness, or well-being, that was evident in the physical and social order of things. Such a book fell within the broad tradition of natural theology works written during the Enlightenment; and this explains why Paley based much of his thought on John Ray (1691), William Derham (1711) and Bernard Nieuwentyt (1750). Paley's argument is built mainly around anatomy and natural history. "For my part", he notes, "I take my stand in human anatomy"; elsewhere, he insists upon "the necessity, in each particular case, of an intelligent designing mind for the contriving and determining of the forms which organized bodies bear". In making his argument, Paley employed a wide variety of metaphors and analogies. Perhaps the most famous is his analogy between a watch and the world. Historians, philosophers and theologians often call this the Watchmaker analogy. Building on that mechanical analogy, Paley presents examples from planetary astronomy and argues that the regular movements of the Solar System resemble the workings of a giant clock To bolster his views, he cites the work of his old friend John Law and the Dublin Astronomer Royal John Brinkley. The germ of the idea is to be found in ancient writers who used sundials and Ptolemaic epicycles to illustrate the divine order of the world. Those types of examples can be seen in the work of the ancient philosopher Cicero, especially in his De natura deorum, ii. 87 and 97. The watch analogy was widely used in the Enlightenment, by deists and Christians alike. Thus, Paley's use of the watch (and other mechanical objects like it) continued a long and fruitful tradition of analogical reasoning that was well received by those who read Natural Theology when it was published in 1802. The Edinburgh Review, for example, said "As a collection of striking facts and powerful arguments for the existence of a wise and beneficent Creator, this publication is certainly entitled to a very favourable reception.... Dr. Paley's chief excellence consists in the judicious disposition of his forces, and the skill and confidence with which he has extended his array to every point which atheism had affected to menace."

• The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, 1785 • Horae Paulinae, or the Truth of the Scripture History of St Paul, 1790 • View of the Evidences of Christianity, 1794 • Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity