'Be candid where we can' : the rational dissent of Joseph Priestley

Abstract

This essay locates the origins of the religious and political radicalism of Joseph Priestley in his early abandonment of Calvinism: having deprived himself of a powerful, subjective system of explanation, he sought a view of the world that could be justified by entirely objective criteria. He was assisted in this project by the psychological theory of associationism - which purports to provide an empirical explanation of mental activity - and by the concept of candour: which in the eighteenth century embodied not only frankness but also a certain generosity of spirit and a willingness to engage in unacrimonious debate. In the central chapters of this essay, four aspects of his work are examined: his activity as an historian (and to some extent as a scientist, an historian of nature), his theology and preaching, his philosophical writings and his political theory, in each of these areas, his work is marked by concern for objectivity and devotion to associationism. He saw history as a providential mechanism in which mental associations played an essential role and he looked to history to provide empirical, objective justification for Christian belief. He found, however, that there were some Christian dogmas - notably that of Christ's divinity - which could not be so justified, and he abandoned them. He thus came to oppose (even more strongly than orthodox dissenters) the religious foundations of the British state; he advocated instead a candid free market in ideas (by means of which God’s providence could operate unhindered). The final chapter describes how this project came to grief, having written an historical account of the growth of those Christian doctrines to which he was opposed, Priestley hoped that he could engage in candid conversation with his critics. But he underestimated the alarm which his opinions provoked, especially in the years after the fall of the Bastille: the debate grew heated, he was publically vilified and, at last, forced into exile.