more from John Stuart Mill

Single Idea 21332

[catalogued under 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / c. Teleological Proof critique]

Full Idea

Even the love of 'order' which is thought to be a following of the ways of nature is in fact a contradiction of them. All which people are accustomed to deprecate as 'disorder' is precisely a counterpart of nature's ways.

Gist of Idea

We don't get a love of 'order' from nature - which is thoroughly chaotic

Source

John Stuart Mill (Nature and Utility of Religion [1874], p.116)

Book Reference

'The Existence of God', ed/tr. Hick,John [Macmillan 1964], p.116


A Reaction

The Greeks elevated the idea that the cosmos was orderly, but almost entirely based on the regular movement of the planets. They turned a blind eye to the messy bits of nature. As you magnify nature, order and chaos seem to alternate.