JAMES HUTTON'S "MACHINE OF A PECULIAR CONSTRUCTION"

Perhaps one of the most famous theories in the history of earth science is “Uniformitarianism” as defined by James Hutton (1726-1797) and later developed by Charles Lyell (1797-1875). Hutton’s theory of the earth, read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March and April of 1785, was first published in the 1788 Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The focus for Hutton was the acquisition of principles that would enable geologists to distinguish natural operations that maintained the habitability of the earth. Hutton utilized the most up-to-date scientific theories of the late eighteenth-century to combine the forces of heat and pressure with the abstract concepts of causation and time to develop a mechanical explanation for the process of decay and renovation that resulted in the “machine of a peculiar construction” that we call earth.

In his essay, Hutton was careful to develop not only his scientific theory but also to explain his logical and philosophical reasoning. The result was a theory that reflected a mixture of philosophy and science. In many ways, Hutton’s uniformitarian approach to geology demonstrated his bent towards explaining the teleology of the earth by establishing principles of knowledge that formed the basis for his epistemology of geological operations. It is evident that Hutton adhered to philosophical principles in the development of his theory, while also seeking only those effects that were actual causes of geological phenomena. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first to define uniformitarianism and its importance in the history of geology; and second to explore it within its philosophical framework. To accomplish this task, three of James Hutton’s works will be examined, “Theory of the Earth” Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1788), Theory of the Earth Vols. I and II (1795), and An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge Vols. I, II, and III (1794).