Download or read book An Analysis of David Hume s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by John Donaldson and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical classic that displays a powerful mastery of the critical thinking skills of reasoning and evaluation. Hume’s subject, the question of the existence and possible nature of God, was, and still is, a persistent topic of philosophical and theological debate. What makes Hume’s text a classic of reasoning, though, is less what he says, than how he says it. As he noted in his preface to the book, the question of ‘natural religion’ was unanswerable: so ‘obscure and uncertain’ that ‘human reason can reach no fixed determination with regard to it.’ Hume chose, as a result, to cast his thoughts on the topic in the form of a dialogue – allowing different points of view to be reasoned out, evaluated and answered by different characters. Considering and judging different or opposing points of view, as Hume’s characters do, is an important part of reasoning, and is vital to building strong persuasive arguments. Even if, as Hume suggests, there can be no final answer to what a god might be like, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion shows high-level reasoning and evaluation at their best.
Download or read book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by David Hume and published by . This book was released on 1779 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work written by the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Through dialogue, three fictional characters named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence. While all three agree that a god exists, they differ sharply in opinion on God's nature or attributes and how, or if, humankind can come to knowledge of a deity. In the Dialogues, Hume's characters debate a number of arguments for the existence of God, and arguments whose proponents believe through which we may come to know the nature of God. Such topics debated include the argument from design - for which Hume uses a house - and whether there is more suffering or good in the world (Argument from evil)
Download or read book David Hume Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion In Focus written by Stanley Tweyman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the original handwritten manuscript, this book provides a new, accurate edition of Hume’s important work, faithful to his original text, marginal notes, and changes. Stanley Tweyman’s comprehensive introduction gives an interpretation of the Dialogues as a whole, as well as close analysis of each of the work’s twelve parts. Hume’s views on evil are discussed in four previously published articles, and the volume concludes with an extensive bibliography. Originally published in 1991.
Download or read book Hume s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by David Hume and published by Lindhardt og Ringhof. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion had not yet been published when he died in 1776. Even though the manuscript was mostly written during the 1750s, it did not appear until 1779. The subject itself was too delicate and controversial, and Hume’s dialectical examination of religious knowledge was especially provocative. What should we teach young people about religion? The characters Demea, Cleanthes, and Philo passionately present and defend three sharply different answers to that question. Demea opens the dialogue with a position derived from René Descartes and Father Malebranche — God’s nature is a mystery, but God’s existence can be proved logically. Cleanthes attacks that view, both because it leads to mysticism and because it attempts the impossible task of trying to establish existence on the basis of pure reason, without appeal to sense experience. As an alternative, he offers a proof of both God’s existence and God’s nature based on the same kind of scientific reasoning established by Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. Taking a skeptical approach, Philo presents a series of arguments that question any attempt to use reason as a basis for religious faith. He suggests that human beings might be better off without religion. The dialogue ends without agreement among the characters, justifying Hume’s choice of dialogue as the literary style for this topic. Born in Scotland, Hume challenges much of the philosophy that prevailed in Europe and England in the 17th and 18th century. He was especially critical of the rationalism developed by René Descartes and his followers. Although he wrote a number of influential essays (including "A Treatise of Human Nature" and "Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding"), his dialogues are especially well suited for the topic of religion. As his character Pamphilus says: "Any philosophical question that is so obscure and uncertain that human reason can reach no agreement about it, if it is treated at all, seems to lead us naturally to the style of dialogue."
Download or read book Briefly written by David Mills Daniel and published by Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd. This book was released on 2006 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Briefly: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a summary of David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which is designed to assist university and school-leaving students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of this key text in the philosophy of religion. This book closely adheres to Hume's text, enabling the reader to follow each development in the argument as it occurs. An introductory chapter provides a brief introduction to David Hume and the period in which he wrote and why the Dialogues are so significant. Following the detailed summary is a short overview of the Dialogues to aid memory. With suggestions for further reading and an extensive glossary of terms found in the Dialogues, this book is a thorough introduction for those starting their study of David Hume's work.
Download or read book Principal Writings on Religion written by David Hume and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1998 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hume is one of the most provocative philosophers to have written in English. His Dialogues ask if a belief in God can be inferred from what is known of the universe, or whether such a belief is even consistent with such knowledge. The Natural History of Religion investigates the origins of belief, and follows its development from polytheism to dogmatic monotheism. Together, these works constitute the most formidable attack upon religious belief ever mounted by a philosopher. This new edition includes Section XI of The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and a letter by Hume in which he discusses Dialogues.
Download or read book Reading Hume s Dialogues written by William Lad Sessions and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "... establishes the literary and philosophical greatness of the Dialogues in ways that even its warmest admirers have been unable to do before." --Terence Penelhum In this lively reading of David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, William Lad Sessions reveals a complex internal hermeneutic that gives new form, structure, and meaning to the work. Linking situations, character, style, and action to the philosophical concepts presented, Sessions finds meaning contained in the work itself and calls attention to the internal connections between plot, character, rhetoric, and philosophy. The result avoids the main preoccupation of previous commentaries, namely, the attempt to establish which of the main characters speaks for Hume. Concentrating on previously unexplored questions of piety and theology, Sessions asks important questions in the philosophy of religion today--what is the nature of true religion, what is the relationship between theology and piety, and how should we actively engage with God?
Download or read book Hume Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by Dorothy Coleman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-04-12 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, first published in 1779, is one of the most influential works in the philosophy of religion and the most artful instance of philosophical dialogue since the dialogues of Plato. It presents a fictional conversation between a sceptic, an orthodox Christian, and a Newtonian theist concerning evidence for the existence of an intelligent cause of nature based on observable features of the world. This edition presents it together with several of Hume's other, shorter writings about religion, and with brief selections from the work of Pierre Bayle, who influenced both Hume's views on religion and the dialectical style of the Dialogues. The volume is completed by an introduction which sets the Dialogues in its philosophical and historical contexts.
Download or read book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by David Hume and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-09-13 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic work of religious philosophy, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is Scottish philosopher David Hume's famous examination of the nature of God. Hume asks the question as to whether or not man's belief in God can be supported by experience. The subject is discussed between three philosophers named Demea, Philo and Cleanthes. While all three agree that a god exists, they differ sharply in opinion on God's nature and how, or if, humankind can come to knowledge of a deity.
Download or read book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 1779 written by David Hume and published by . This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Download or read book The Infidel and the Professor written by Dennis C. Rasmussen and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-04 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dearest friends -- The cheerful skeptic (1711-1749) -- Encountering Hume (1723-1749) -- A budding friendship (1750-1754) -- The historian and the Kirk (1754-1759) -- Theorizing the moral sentiments (1759) -- Fêted in France (1759-1766) -- Quarrel with a wild philosopher (1766-1767) -- Mortally sick at sea (1767-1775) -- Inquiring into the Wealth of Nations (1776) -- Dialoguing about natural religion (1776) -- A philosopher's death (1776) -- Ten times more abuse (1776-1777) -- Smith's final years in Edinburgh (1777-1790) -- Hume's My Own Life and Smith's Letter from Adam Smith, LL. D. to William Strahan, Esq
Download or read book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Illustrated written by David Hume and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-23 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic work of religious philosophy, "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" is David Hume's examination of the nature of God. David Hume's philosophy, empiricism, rests upon the idea that all rational belief must be supported by experiential evidence. It is within the scope of this philosophy that Hume examines the nature of God and asks the question as to whether or not man's belief in God can be supported by experience. This exposition takes place in the guise of a dialogue between three characters who each take different points of view on the subject. "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" is an interesting examination of faith from a philosophical perspective and a must read for any student of philosophy or religion.
Download or read book Scepticism and Belief in Hume s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by S. Tweyman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the pages that follow, an attempt is made to examine those sections of the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion which deal with the Argument from Design - the argument which purports to prove that certain observed similarities between the design of the world and machines of human contrivance countenance reasoning by analogy to the conclusion that the cause of the design of the world resembles human intelligence. The sections which deal with the Argument from Design, and with which I am therefore concerned, are Parts I through VIII and Part XII. I argue that a clue to Hume's discussion of the Argument from Design is to be found in Section XII of the first Enquiry, in which Hume presents his most thorough analysis of philosophic dogmatism and scepticism. The Dialogues, as will be shown, follows precisely Hume's recommendations in this Section for bringing the dogmatist to the position which Hume himself endorses - 'mitigated scepticism. ' It is, then, the position of the mitigated sceptic which is elaborated in Part XII of the Dialogues. The belief in an intelligent designer of the world is shown to be akin to certain other beliefs discussed by Hume - causality, physical objects, a continuing self - which are usually referred to in the literature as 'natural beliefs. ' The mitigated sceptic's defense of the unknowability of the divine nature is seen to be in accordance with Hume's view that whatever is believed naturally cannot be known or understood.
Download or read book David Hume written by David Hume and published by . This book was released on 2011-01 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work written by the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Through dialogue, three fictional characters named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence. While all three agree that a god exists, they differ sharply in opinion on God's nature or attributes and how, or if, humankind can come to knowledge of a deity. In the Dialogues, Hume's characters debate a number of arguments for the existence of God, and arguments whose proponents believe through which we may come to know the nature of God. Such topics debated include the argument from design -- for which Hume uses a house -- and whether there is more suffering or good in the world (argument from evil). Hume started writing the Dialogues in 1750 but did not complete them until 1776, shortly before his death. They are based partly on Cicero's De Natura Deorum. The Dialogues were published posthumously in 1779, originally with neither the author's nor the publisher's name.
Download or read book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Annotated written by David Hume and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-03-27 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hume, the 18th century philosopher, economist, and historian, uses a lively Socratic discussion by three characters to explore the nature of religion and God, particularly whether and how one can know that God exists.Having been accused of heresy during his lifetime, Hume knew not to publish this book until after his death, so he bequeathed the manuscript, a few days before his death, to his printer, but if the printer didn't publish it within 2 years, the manuscript would go to Hume's nephew, also named David Hume, which it did and the nephew did publish it.One of the oldest and most popular arguments for the existence of God is the design argument, that order and "purpose" in the world must be proof of a divine origin: Where one sees a watch, one may infer the existence of the watchmaker. Here Philo, Cleanthes, and Demea volley their arguments back and forth. Cleanthes advocates for the existence of God based upon observed design in the world, Philo counters that argument, and Demea represents rigid orthodoxy. The dialogues continue for a total of 12 parts, exploring many ideas such as that there may be more than one supreme God, that our universe may have been spawned without a creator from an older one as a plant procreates by spreading its seeds, and other questions about the natural world and the concept of the Deity.Scholars disagree regarding which character most closely represents Hume's own voice in the dialogues, but most say that Philo speaks for Hume. The Dialogues and Hume's other philosophical writings about the nature of "knowing" would lead one to a conclusion that Hume was an agnostic, not an atheist.In the introduction, as a letter from Pamphilus to Hermippus, Hume explains his choice of the dialogue as the style for this presentation: "Any question of philosophy ... which is so OBSCURE and UNCERTAIN, that human reason can reach no fixed determination with regard to it; if it should be treated at all, seems to lead us naturally into the style of dialogue and conversation. Reasonable men may be allowed to differ, where no one can reasonably be positive. Opposite sentiments, even without any decision, afford an agreeable amusement; and if the subject be curious and interesting, the book carries us, in a manner, into company; and unites the two greatest and purest pleasures of human life, study and society."Open this eBook and you will find yourself in Cleanthes' library alongside Pamphilus, the pupil of Cleanthes, as he silently audits these dialogues concerning natural religion among Cleanthes, the precise philosopher, Philo, the sceptic, and Demea, the inflexibly orthodox believer.
Download or read book Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion written by David Hume and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-06-20 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work by the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Through dialogue, three philosophers named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence. Whether or not these names reference specific philosophers, ancient or otherwise, remains a topic of scholarly dispute. While all three agree that a god exists, they differ sharply in opinion on God's nature or attributes and how, or if, humankind can come to knowledge of a deity. In the Dialogues, Hume's characters debate a number of arguments for the existence of God, and arguments whose proponents believe through which we may come to know the nature of God. Such topics debated include the argument from design-for which Hume uses a house-and whether there is more suffering or good in the world (argument from evil). Hume started writing the Dialogues in 1750 but did not complete them until 1776, shortly before his death. They are based partly on Cicero's De Natura Deorum. The Dialogues were published posthumously in 1779, originally with neither the author's nor the publisher's name.
Download or read book Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion written by John Donaldson and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical classic that displays a powerful mastery of the critical thinking skills of reasoning and evaluation. Hume’s subject, the question of the existence and possible nature of God, was, and still is, a persistent topic of philosophical and theological debate. What makes Hume’s text a classic of reasoning, though, is less what he says, than how he says it. As he noted in his preface to the book, the question of ‘natural religion’ was unanswerable: so ‘obscure and uncertain’ that ‘human reason can reach no fixed determination with regard to it.’ Hume chose, as a result, to cast his thoughts on the topic in the form of a dialogue – allowing different points of view to be reasoned out, evaluated and answered by different characters. Considering and judging different or opposing points of view, as Hume’s characters do, is an important part of reasoning, and is vital to building strong persuasive arguments. Even if, as Hume suggests, there can be no final answer to what a god might be like, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion shows high-level reasoning and evaluation at their best.
