Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-pfhbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T07:10:02.119Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

CHAP. V - APPLICATION OF THE ARGUMENT CONTINUED

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2010

Get access

Summary

Every obfervation which was made, in our firft chapter, concerning the watch, may be repeated with ftrict propriety concerning the eye; concerning animals; concerning plants; concerning, indeed, all the organized parts of the works of nature. As,

I. When we are enquiring fimply after the exiftence of an intelligent Creator, imperfection, inaccuracy, liability to diforder, occafional irregularities, may fubfift, in a confiderable degree, without inducing any doubt into the queftion: juft as a watch may frequently go wrong, feldom perhaps exactly right, may be faulty in fome parts, defective in fome, without the fmalleft ground of fufpicion from thence arifing, that it was not a watch; not made; for not made for the purpofe afcribed to it. When faults are pointed out, and when, a queftion is ftarted concerning the fkill of the artift, or dexterity with which the work is executed, then indeed, in order to defend thefe qualities from accufation, we muft be able, either to expofe fome intractablenefs and imperfection in the materials, or point out fome invincible difficulty in the execution, into which imperfection and difficulty the matter of complaint may be refolved; or, if we cannot do this, we muft adduce fuch fpecimens of confummate art and contrivance proceeding from the fame hand, as may convince the enquirer, of the exiftence, in the cafe before him, of impediments like thofe which we have mentioned, although, what from the nature of the cafe is very likely to happen, they be unknown and unperceived by him.

Type
Chapter
Information
Natural Theology
Or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature
, pp. 60 - 80
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009
First published in: 1803

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×