Design in Nature

• All knowledge comes from experience and so we can never know what is outside the Universe, if we define the Universe as what can in principle be experienced. To know something one must first have contact with it and we can only have contact with what is in the same Universe as us.
• Since the Creator came before the Universe It is outside its bounds and only knowable through Its actions but all around us in the Universe we see law in action through a chain of causation from the first cause to the last event; let us call this first cause God if we will but the Creator God is not a person but a “something” we cannot know directly.
• My philosophy is deistic but it is a tradition which although it has failed so far because it did not inspire or warm our hearts does seem true. Perhaps the surest source of warmth in deism is the anger that God made the world so bloody awful. It is reasonable to ask whether he might not have done better. It is also reasonable to ask whether it would have been better for God to refuse to create the Universe rather than create so much pain. It is quite reasonable but completely pointless to be angry with the Creator. Perhaps the universe as it is now is the best that God could have created. Perhaps God is growing. Perhaps God is not good. Perhaps God is a bad craftsman.
• But as well as evil, there is good in the Universe and it is possible that human actions could make the world a better place. Perhaps we could choose the path of good? The human race could grow to fulfilment and there is a chance that some time in the future Man or his descendants will create a Garden of Eden. But why does God not take away today’s pain?
• By studying Nature we will hopefully come to understand the Creator better. It is amazing what a primate on one small planet has achieved already - what might we achieve one day. But for now i belive we know some things for sure. 1 The Universe is governed by law. 2 These laws display design. 3 We are part of the Creator's design, whatever that may. 4 We can understand Creation, at least in part. 4 In some respect we are like the Creator since we can understand the law which govern it. 5 Our actions make a diference for good or evil.
• Let us be warmed and inspired by seeing our place in the Universe and let us use the warmth of understanding something of our place in eternity to inspire our actions. In the everyday world of here and now it is the task of politics and every human being to live well do what can be done to ease today's pain.

Experience

It seems to be clear that we can know nothing which has not entered into us, or our ancestors, by way of experience. Anything which does not appear to relate to Nature as it presents itself to us right now must be built on the basis of direct experience, even if that was at many degrees removed.
It is therefore necessary to relate each stage in our thinking back to Nature as the sole test of the accuracy of thoughts. We must get back to tangible reality. An abstract proposition may be right or wrong, but unless it can be translated into the concrete how do we even know we are talking about the same concept?
Empiricism and scepticism must be the guiding principles of all politicians. We must not trust the truth of any proposition or assertion until it has been tested by experiment.

But in life and in politics we must act. It is not possible to adopt some form of political precautionary principle and be frozen into passivity. We must do the best we can with the limited undrstanding we have from experience, human instinct and Nature. In so far as our understanding is based on stored experience it may speak the truth but how to be sure. And how can we know that a political action will not have unforesen and adverse consequences. of course we cannot know.
Life is too short to test every action for every consequence. It is too short to test the final consequences of even one action. We must follow a set of rules derived from experience, the rules which have worked best. The guide of experience is therefore conservative. In changing the rules we must always act with restraint - we may be wrong.

In praise of concrete

Political theory through the centuries, in all its many forms, shares one essential feature. Every theory gets lost in fluffy metaphysical clouds.
Whatever the principle be it liberalism, utilitarianism, communism - they are all false because none can capture the complexity of human society with anything like the degree of accuracy which is adequate to predict the outcome of the change.
When making political choices stick as far as you can to what can be experienced, to what can be weighed or to what can be measured. Avoid the abstract!
For example. Do not look at humanity - look at the indidual men, women and children. Do not think about society - think of the flesh and blood. Slavery, for example, is not evil because it infringes human rights. slavery is evil because of what it does to the individual human being syanding in front of you.

Tradition

Tradition; It is obvious, one would think, that human knowledge has its limitations but looking back over the history of great reformers and revolutionaries one would never guess.
There is no object in the known universe more complicated than the human brain except human societies but both the great genius and the radical and not so reformers plunge on with their ideas.
Society is so intricate it is impossible to predict the outcome of social engineering. In any reform we must tread carefully. Tradition at least works. The first lesson in politics should be "Do no harm, Go cautiously, Take everything a Step at a Time and Allow Room to Retreat".