God and the Secular: A Philosophical Assessment of Secular Reasoning from Bacon to Kant

accordingly action agent argue Aristotelian assessment Bacon benevolent causal causes Chapter choice claim Clarke concerned conclusion contingent cosmological argument created creatures Critique Cudworth deity Demea Descartes determinism discussed divine doctrine of creation edited empirical epistemology ethical evidence explanation fact further Galileo Gassendi Glanvill God's existence granted grounds Hobbes human welfare Hume's Hume's principle implies independent infinite Kant Kant's knowledge laws of nature least Leibniz logical London material objects mathematical matter metaphysical miracles moral motives natural laws natural philosophy natural theology necessarily existent necessarily timeless necessary truth necessitarianism Nevertheless Newton Newtonian notion observation omnipotent ontological argument particles phenomena physical theology possible postulated predictions premisses Priestley principle priori proposition question rational reason regularities of succession religion reply revelation Royal Society scepticism scientific method Section secular secularisation sense sort Spinoza substances Swinburne teleological argument theism theistic Theodicy theory things uncreatable universe utilitarianism