登陆注册
5590800000113

第113章 Religion(4)

Whatever might be the suspicions of their antagonists,they could only be accused of a tendency.The book amounts to an admission that the suspicions were well founded.Utilitarianism,the Utilitarians clearly recognised,logically implied the rejection of all theology.Religion --on their understanding of the word --must,like everything else,be tested by its utility,and it was shown to be either useless or absolutely pernicious.The aim of the Utilitarians was,in brief,to be thoroughly scientific.The man of science must be opposed to the belief in an inscrutable agent of boundless power,interfering at every point with the laws of nature,and a product of the fancy instead of the reason.Such a conception,so far as accepted,makes all theory of human conduct impossible,suggests rules conflicting with the supreme rule of utility,and gives authority to every kind of delusion,imposture,and 'sinister interest.'

It would,I think,be difficult to mention a more vigorous discussion of the problem stated.As anonymous,it could be ignored instead of answered;and probably such orthodox persons as read it assumed it to be a kind of reductio ad absurdum of the Utilitarian creed.It might follow,they could admit,logically from the Utilitarian analysis of human nature,but it could only prove that the analysis was fundamentally wrong.Yet its real significance is precisely its thorough applicability to the contemporary state of opinion.Beauchamp's definition coincides with Paley's.The coincidence was inevitable.Utilitarians both in ethical and philosophical questions start from the same assumptions as Paley,and the Paley doctrine gave the pith of the dominant theology.

I have observed that the Scottish philosophers had abandoned the a priori argument,and laid the whole stress of their theological doctrine upon Paley's argument from final causes.The change of base was an inevitable consequence of their whole system.They appealed to experience,to 'Baconian'methods,and to 'inductive psychology.'The theory of 'intuitions,'effective where it fell in with admitted beliefs,was idle against an atheist,who denied that he had the intuition.The 'final causes'argument,however,rested upon common ground,and supplied a possible line of defence.The existence of the Deity could perhaps be proved empirically,like the existence of the 'watchmaker.'Accordingly,this was the argument upon which reliance was really placed by the average theologian of the time.Metaphysical or ontological reasoning had been discarded for plain common-sense.The famous Bridgewater Treatises are the characteristic product of the period.It had occurred to the earl of Bridgewater,who died in 1829,that £8000from his estate might be judiciously spent in proving the existence of a benevolent creator,the council of the Royal Society employed eight eminent men of science to carry out this design.19They wrote some interesting manuals of popular science,interspersed with proper theological applications.

The arguments were sincere enough,though they now seem to overlook with singular blindness the answer which would be suggested by the 'evolutionist.'

The logical result is,in any case,a purely empirical theology.The religion which emerges is not a philosophy or theory of the world in general,but corresponds to a belief in certain matters of fact (or fiction),the existence of the Deity is to be proved,like the existence of Caesar,by special evidence.

The main results are obvious.

The logical base of the whole creed is ,natural theology,'and 'natural theology'is simply a branch of science,amenable to the ordinary scientific tests.It is intended to prove the existence of an agent essential to the working of the machinery,as from the movements of a planet we infer the existence of a disturbing planet,the argument from design,in this acceptation,is briefly mentioned by 'Philip Beauchamp.'It is,he argues,'completely extra-experimental';for experience only reveals design in living beings:

it supposes a pre-existing chaos which can never be shown to have existed,and the 'omnipotent will'introduced to explain the facts is really no explanation at all,but a collection of meaningless words.20The argument is briefly dismissed as concerning the truth,not the utility,of religion,but one point is sufficiently indicated.The argument from 'design'is always plausible,because it applies reasoning undeniably valid when it is applied within its proper sphere.The inference from a watch to a watchmaker is clearly conclusive.We know sufficiently what is meant by the watchmaker and by 'making.'We therefore reason to a vera causa --an agent already known.When the inference is to the action of an inconceivable Being performing an inconceivable operation upon inconceivable materials,it really becomes illusory,or amounts to the simple assertion that the phenomenon is inexplicable.Therefore,again,it is essentially opposed to science though claiming to be scientific.The action of the creator is supposed to begin where the possibility of knowledge ends.It is just the inexplicable element which suggests the creative agency.Conversely,the satisfactory explanation of any phenomenon takes it out of the theological sphere.As soon as the process becomes 'natural'it ceases to demand the supernatural artificer.'Making,'therefore,is contradistinguished from 'growing.'If we see how the eye has come into existence,we have no longer any reason to assume that it was put together mechanically.In other words,'teleology'of this variety is dispelled by theories of evolution.The hypothesis of interference becomes needless when we see how things came to be by working out perfectly natural processes.As science,therefore,expands,theology recedes.This was to become more evident at a later period.

同类推荐
  • 海桑文集

    海桑文集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上老君中经珠宫玉历

    太上老君中经珠宫玉历

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 續夷堅志

    續夷堅志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 醉茶志怪

    醉茶志怪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 学治臆说

    学治臆说

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 第一凰妃:腹黑暗帝,宠太急!

    第一凰妃:腹黑暗帝,宠太急!

    【新坑已开《仙师娇宠:妖孽萌徒闹翻天》,看禁欲系俊美神仙花式宠徒弟。了解魂穿的凡根女徒弟作天作地作大死,撩人撩鬼撩师傅。】 睡了第一美男,打了第一渣男,“嫁了”第一世子。如今,背着个“绿茶闺蜜婊”的骂名替嫁了的阿卿,该何去何从?撩够了男人,撩女人。这回鹘来的公主,千音坊的头牌,宰相家的嫡女……哪一个又不是对“他”芳心暗许。盛唐之后的浮世,左拥右抱,征战杀伐,祸国的红颜是圣女,是妖女,是何去何从的少女心。
  • 青年作家(2015年第2期)

    青年作家(2015年第2期)

    《青年作家》是一本老牌纯文学读物,创刊于1997年,由文学巨匠巴金先生撰写创刊词,曾被誉为中国文学刊物“四小名旦”之一。
  • 贞观太上皇

    贞观太上皇

    李源穿越了成了唐高祖李渊。玄武门之变后,看着已经年迈不堪的身躯,他悲痛不堪;看着床上娇滴滴的妃嫔,他不胜腰力;......于是,他决定做点正当事情,比如造反。可是意外的金手指觉醒了,“恭喜发明一架纸飞机,获得一天寿命。”望着千古一帝的李二,他决定从孙子辈开始造反,劳资要熬死你,可是谁知熬着熬着,熬了一个大唐工业帝国! 群:扣扣,九四九七零八七九三。
  • 诡案罪3

    诡案罪3

    “我”从警校毕业后,通过公务员考试,进入公安系统工作。我的理想是当一名刑警,可是领导却把我安排到档案科坐班。为了工作的需要,我开始翻看档案架上那一卷卷落满灰尘的档案。随着阅读的深入,我发现许多案件的侦破档案,读来惊险曲折,充满悬念,其精彩程度,绝不亚于一部绝妙的侦探推理小说,如“死亡剧组命案”“网络作家杀人案”“深山分尸案”等,读来既使人警醒,又引人深思。现以小说的形式辑录于此,希望能让更多的人受益。
  • 狐归兮胡不归

    狐归兮胡不归

    降妖除魔,何为妖,何为魔?除魔卫道,除的什么魔,卫的什么道?他们之前的感情,能否超越他们的道?什么,才是最高的道?
  • 盛宠仙妃:魔尊大人别得意

    盛宠仙妃:魔尊大人别得意

    凡人慕容雪机缘巧合的到云雾山修仙,却不想卷入了神器的争夺大战中。慕容雪也因此爱上了魔界之主,产生了一段旷世奇恋,也引出了一个个惊天大秘,事关六界存亡,慕容雪究竟会做出怎样的抉择?
  • 神女令音传

    神女令音传

    她是一介凡人,为寻慈父的魂魄,以人身修成神。“我身在地狱,护你人间天堂。我要你人世平安无虞,我永坠地狱。”
  • 情到浓时

    情到浓时

    谁的青春,不腐朽?亲眼目睹男友劈腿老女人,我把自己送给了叶寒声。他曾经警告我:“沈惑,我是买家,你是卖家,我们之间只存在交易。”但我坏了游戏规则。为了爱他,我宁可折损一切!可他不爱我。我用最好的青春年华,换来了一场爱恨纠缠的梦!有人拼命把我从梦里救出去。但我自甘堕落,一次又一次深陷其中,直至最后无法自拔!当我从梦中醒来时,却发现遍体鳞伤的不止是我一人......
  • 马克思主义与当代(2009)

    马克思主义与当代(2009)

    本书是关于研究马克思主义与当代关系的论文集,书中主要体收录了:《浅析马克思主义关于人与自然的思想与我国生态文明建设》,《人权与社会主义法治》,《美学视阈下的高职思想政治课教学新探》,《大学生思想政治工作的柔性管理刍议》,《浅析农村留守妇女面临的问题、发展趋势及其解决建议》等文章。本书适合从事相关研究工作的人员参考阅读。
  • 奇妙的鱼类世界

    奇妙的鱼类世界

    鱼类属于脊索动物门中的脊椎动物亚门,是最古老的脊椎动物。它们栖居于地球上几乎所有的水生环境中。无论是在湖泊、河流这些淡水环境中,还是在大海、大洋这些咸水环境中,都可以看到它们悠游自在的身影。