Outline of Butler's Arguments
- Motivation and Methods
- Virtue and Piety
- The Appeal to Probability
- Natural Religion
- There is a God
- Butler's "assumption" that God Exists
- Butler on Clarke's Proof in the Letters
- Additional Proofs Mentioned by Butler
- There is a Future Life
- Butler introduces the issue of a future life in I.i.1.
- The Presumptive Case for the Expectation
- By appeal to growth (I.i.2)
- By appeal to continuance (I.i.3)
- Attempts to defeat the presumption (I.i.4-5)
- Summary (I.i.6)
- Imagination as the Basis of Prejudice (I.i.7)
- The Case Against Denial of the Expectation
- Prejudice that the soul is composite (I.i.8)
- Prejudice that we are our gross bodies (I.i.9-15)
- Prejudice of implications for brutes (I.i.16)
- Prejudice of bodily dependence (I.i.17-20)
- Prejudice of implications for vegetables (I.i.21)
- Summary (I.i.22)
- On the Naturalism of Expectation (I.i.23)
- Rejection of the Appeal to Curiosity (I.i.24)
- The Problem of Personal Identity (Diss. I)
- Nature is a Moral System
- The General Method of Divine Administration (I.ii)
- The Divine Administration is a Moral System (I.iii)
- Human Nature Adapted to Virtue (Fifteen Sermons)
- Development of Butler's Ethics (Preface, Diss. II)
- Refutations
- Of Shaftesbury (Preface 26-30)
- Of Hobbes (S I)
- Of Utilitarianism (Diss. II)
- The Superior Principles of Self-Love, Benevolence and Conscience (S I, II, III, XI, XII)
- Some Particular Passions
- Talking (S IV)
- Compassion (S V, VI)
- Resentment and Forgiveness (S VIII, IX)
- Love of God (S XIII, XIV)
- Some Cognitive Incapacities
- Self-Deception (S VII, X)
- Human Ignorance (S XV)
- Objections to the Moral System of Nature
- The Doctrine of Necessity (I.vi)
- The Problem of Evil (I.vii)
- There is a God
- Revealed Religion
- Objections to the Alleged Christian Revelation
- Natural religion is sufficient. (II.i)
- Miracles are impossible. (II.ii)
- Revelation is contrary to expectation. (II.iii)
- Evil remains unexplained. (II.iv)
- A mediator is needless. (II.v)
- Christianity lacks universality. (II.vi)
- The Particular Evidences for Revelation
- Miracles (II.vii.4-19)
- Prophecy (II.vii.20-26)
- The Proper Weighing of this Evidence (II.vii.27)
- The Cumulative Case (II.vii.28-44)
- Summation (II.vii.45)
- There is no presumption against a revelation as miraculous.
- The general scheme of Christianity and the principal parts of it are conformable to the experienced constitution of things, and the whole is perfectly credible.
- The positive evidence cannot be destroyed, even if it can be lessened.
- Rebuttal Arguments
- Analogy with natural religion fails to clear difficulties (II.viii.4-5)
- Analogy with worldly pursuits fails to clear difficulties (II.viii.6-7)
- Analogy with natural providence fails to clear difficulties (II.viii.8)
- The mind is left unsatisfied (II.viii.9)
- The doubtful evidence for religion is insufficient to warrant giving up present interests and pleasures. (II.viii.10)
- The whole argument is ad hominem (II.viii.11)
- The force of the whole argument (II.viii.12-13)
- Objections to the Alleged Christian Revelation
- Institutional Religion
- The Benevolent Institutions
- Missions (6S I)
- Charities (6S II, IV, VI)
- The State
- Liberty (6S III)
- The Constitution (6S V)
- The Church ("Durham Charge")
- The Benevolent Institutions