Paley William, (1743–1805), English moral philosopher and theologian. He was born in Peterborough and educated at Cambridge, where he lectured in moral philosophy, divinity, and Greek New Testament before assuming a series of posts in the Church of England, the last as archdeacon of Carlisle. The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785) first introduced utilitarianism to a wide public. Moral obligation is created by a divine command ‘coupled’ with the expectation of everlasting rewards or punishments. While God’s commands can be ascertained ‘from Scripture and the light of nature,’ Paley emphasizes the latter. Since God wills human welfare, the rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by their ‘tendency to promote or diminish the general happiness.’ Horae Pauline: Or the Truth of the Scripture History of St Paul Evinced appeared in 1790, A View of the Evidences of Christianity in 1794. The latter defends the authenticity of the Christian miracles against Hume. Natural Theology (1802) provides a design argument for God’s existence and a demonstration of his attributes. Nature exhibits abundant contrivances whose ‘several parts are framed and put together for a purpose.’ These contrivances establish the existence of a powerful, wise, benevolent designer. They cannot show that its power and wisdom are unlimited, however, and ‘omnipotence’ and ‘omniscience’ are mere ‘superlatives.’ Paley’s Principles and Evidences served as textbooks in England and America well into the nineteenth century. See also DIVINE ATTRIBUTES , HUME, MIRACLE , PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION , UTILI – TARIANIS. W.J.Wa.