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...
| Publié dans: | International journal of philosophy and theology |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Type de support: | Électronique Article |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publié: |
Taylor & Francis
2021
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| Dans: |
International journal of philosophy and theology
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| Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés: | B
Hume, David 1711-1776, Dialogues concerning natural religion
/ Religion naturelle
/ Conscience
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophie de la religion KAH Époque moderne NBE Anthropologie |
| Sujets non-standardisés: | B
David Hume
B CSR B Design Argument B Natural Religion B Imagination |
| Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Résumé: | 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 |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: International journal of philosophy and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21692327.2021.2014938 |