William Paley and the Evolution of the Natural Theology Movement

本项目将研究威廉·佩利的有影响力的著作《自然神学》，这本书最初出版于1802年，包括它的出版、传播和对公众理解进化论的持续影响;更广泛地说，它将探讨科学与宗教之间的关系。尽管佩利的《自然神学》在最近关于进化论在科学课程中的作用的辩论中经常被引用，佩利的观点与他200多年前提出的观点几乎没有相似之处。通过探索佩利写作的宗教、科学和政治环境，并将《自然神学》与作者自己的生活和工作联系起来，本项目将对佩利的作品有更细致的理解。本项目还将研究《自然神学》自出版以来是如何被使用的，这两种观点都是由那些认为自己支持其论点的读者提出的（因为他们理解他们）和那些谁反对或驳斥它。通过检查文本的出版历史，以及它是如何改编和使用作为教科书在十九世纪，佩利的工作的演变可以追溯。他的论点的微妙之处在传输中被取代，他的一些结论被重新表述，使用佩利本人不会接受的理由。佩利在达尔文历史中的作用以及达尔文同时代人重新构建科学与宗教关系的努力，人为地将佩利变成了进化论的陪衬。这一点在近代历史中一直延续，“智能设计论”的反对者和支持者都声称佩利是这一近代运动的先驱，尽管事实上自然神学包含的论点可能被视为对智能设计的挑战。这项研究将着眼于佩利的工作如何以及为什么继续保持相关性，以及它的使用如何创造和加强了对科学和宗教本质的普遍信念。

This project will examine William Paley's influential book, Natural Theology, which was initially published in 1802, including its publication, transmission, and continuing impact on public understanding of evolution; more generally, it will explore the relationship between science and religion.Although Paley's Natural Theology has been frequently cited in recent debates over the role of evolution in science curricula, the views attributed to Paley bear little resemblance to those he advanced over 200 years ago. By exploring the religious, scientific, and political environment in which Paley was writing, and relating the Natural Theology to the author's own life and work, this project will argue for a more nuanced understanding of Paley's work.This project will also look at how the Natural Theology has been used since its publication, both by readers who saw themselves as supportive of its arguments (as they understood them) and by those who opposed or refuted it. By examining the publishing history of the text, as well as how it was adapted and used as a textbook in the nineteenth century, the evolution of Paley's work can be traced. Subtleties of his arguments were displaced in transmission, and some of his conclusions were reformulated using justifications that Paley himself would not have accepted. The role of Paley in the history of Darwin and the efforts by Darwin's contemporaries to reframe the relationship between science and religion artificially turned Paley into a foil for evolution.This has continued through recent history, where both opponents and supporters of "intelligent design" have claimed that Paley is a precursor of this recent movement, despite the fact that the Natural Theology contains arguments that could be seen as challenges to intelligent design. This research will look at how and why Paley's work continues to hold relevance, and how its use has created and reinforced prevailing beliefs about the nature of science and religion.