Natural Theology, or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected From the Appearances of Nature, 1803

London, New Bond-Street: R. Faulder, 1803. AN INFLUENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO BIOLOGICAL THOUGHT & A PARTICULARLY WELL-WRITTEN CASE FOR INTELLIGENT DESIGN & BY WILLIAM PALEY.

We offer the expanded fourth edition. Natural Theology, first published in 1802, is a work of Christian apologetics and religious philosophy by William Paley (1743-1805), an English clergyman. "The book expounds his arguments from natural theology, making a teleological argument for the existence of God, notably beginning with the watchmaker analogy" (Wikipedia). "In this book, Paley laid out a full exposition of natural theology, the belief that the nature of God could be understood by reference to His creation, the natural world" (UCMP Berkeley).

"The fact that Paley's 1802 book was called Natural Theology is no doubt part of why natural theology as a whole is sometimes equated with the a posteriori investigations of nature for the purposes of supporting religious theses. In the analogy that made Paley's argument famous, the relationship between a watch and a watch-maker is taken to be saliently similar to the relationship between the natural world and its author. If we were to go walking upon the heath and stumble upon a watch, a quick examination of its inner workings would reveal, with a high probability, that "its several parts were framed and put together for a purpose" by what must have been "an intelligence" (1802: 1-6). Likewise with the universe as a whole" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). CONDITION & DETAILS: R. Faulder. New Bond-Street. London. 8vo. (8 x 5.5 inches). pp. [xii], 586, [4]. Bears the Hobart family bookplate with the Hobart bull. Tightly bound in original full calf, gilt-ruled at the spine. The lettering on the spine is faded and there is a small professional repair at the foot. The title page is toned but the rest of the volume is bright and clean throughout. Near fine.