Hume’s Dialogues: a natural explanation of natural religion?
Hume’s Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) describes a philosophical discussion on the validity of the argument from design. What Hume investigates, however, is not the rational grounds of religion, but human nature and its attraction to the idea of design. I argue that the key to understan...
| Veröffentlicht in: | International journal of philosophy and theology |
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| 1. VerfasserIn: | |
| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Taylor & Francis
2021
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| In: |
International journal of philosophy and theology
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| normierte Schlagwort(-folgen): | B
Hume, David 1711-1776, Dialogues concerning natural religion
/ Natürliche Religion
/ Bewusstsein
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Religionsphilosophie; Religionskritik; Atheismus KAH Kirchengeschichte 1648-1913; Neuzeit NBE Anthropologie |
| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
David Hume
B CSR B Design Argument B Natural Religion B Imagination |
| Online Zugang: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Zusammenfassung: | Hume’s Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) describes a philosophical discussion on the validity of the argument from design. What Hume investigates, however, is not the rational grounds of religion, but human nature and its attraction to the idea of design. I argue that the key to understanding Hume’s Dialogues is his conception of the imagination as described in the Treatise. Hume characterizes the human imagination or mind as self-indulgent, with a strong drive to unite perceptions in relations of resemblance, contiguity or causality, often adding fictional constructions to create an easy transition between ideas. Natural religion is a prime example, as the whole universe is united in orderly means-to-ends relations and provided with a familiar cause: something resembling the human mind. This reading of the Dialogues, however, does not warrant the conclusion that Hume provides a reductionist natural explanation of natural religion. Knowing human nature helps to understand religion’s attraction and the attraction of religion helps to understand humans, because it is paradigmatic of who we are. To connect perceptions, construct wholes and create meaning out of chaos is an essential feature of human nature, and a source of great pleasure. |
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| ISSN: | 2169-2335 |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: International journal of philosophy and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21692327.2021.2014938 |