David Hume´s Philosophy Essay Words | 4 Pages Hume’s Epistemology David Hume was a Scottish philosopher known for his ideas of skepticism and empiricism. Hume strived to better develop John Locke’s idea of empiricism by using a scientific study of our own human nature David Hume, a Scottish philosopher from the 18th century, argues in his essay “Of Liberty and Necessity” that free will and determinism are compatible ideas, and that they can both be accepted at the same time without being logically incorrect In , Hume issued a large number of new essays under the title Political Discourses, a work so successful that a second edition was published before the year was out, and a third in Early in the s, Hume drew together his various essays, along with other of his writings, in a collection entitled Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects
Essay on David Hume On Empiricism - Words | Bartleby
David Hume is a remarkable philosopher of the 18 th century who made significant contributions to the epistemology of religion. He criticizes existence of religion based on rational premises. David Hume views epistemology of religion from the point of empiricism, for he is an empiricist who believes that epistemology emanates from experiences that people undergo.
In his argument about the existence of God, David Hume asserts that sufficient evidence is lacking to prove the existence and nature of God rationally. From an empirical perspective, David Hume perceives that it is beyond the rational capacity of humans to comprehend the existence of God on the premise of experiential evidence. Hume objects design argument that attributes nature and existence of David hume essay to design elements that are present in nature.
From his objection, Hume asserts that religious philosophers do not use rational inferences in proving the existence and nature of God in the universe.
Religious philosophers hold that david hume essay of order in the universe is not a product of an accident, but a proof that a supreme being ordered it, david hume essay. Therefore, God designed the universe and provided it with all artistic elements that display splendor and beauty of the universe.
On this view, Hume objects that religious philosophers cannot prove existence and nature of God by merely inferring from what they observe in the universe. The principle of inferring the existence and nature of God from the cosmic design is uncertain because the design of the universe is beyond human experience, and david hume essay useless because no one can revert and observe new design.
Hence, Hume builds his objection basing on the principle that inferences should have their basis on rational experience, but exclude mere imaginations. According to Hume, david hume essay, it is rational to infer the existence of God based on observations, but it is irrational to extent inferences to include imaginations. Using the analogy of footprints and wet roads, david hume essay, Hume argues that we can infer many things.
When one sees footprints at the seashore, what comes into the mind is that someone walked across the seashore. Moreover, when one observes wet roads, what comes into the mind is that there was a heavy rain. These inferences have their basis on the david hume essay that human beings undergo in their lives. However, on religious matters concerning the existence of God, it is difficult to make rational inferences based on human experience because no one has experienced God.
The inferences of the existence of God as a designer of the universe all have their basis on imaginations rather than rational experience, david hume essay.
This manner of reasoning is appropriate in making david hume essay from david hume essay experiences, but it is inapplicable in inferring the existence of God since no one has experienced His behavior or nature during the design process of david hume essay universe.
Hence, religious philosophers do not have firsthand experience of God, yet they suppose that their imaginations provide a basis for inferring His abilities in designing the universe.
Contemporary teological argument about the design of the universe states that the universe exhibits both temporal and spatial order. These two orders represent regularities that are evident in the universe, david hume essay. It is surprising that both plants and animals exhibit unique designs that show regularities. Body parts of living things exhibit spatial order while their existence across all ages shows temporal order. Using inductive reasoning, one can argue that the universe has temporal order that it follows no matter the actions of humans.
In this view, the contemporary teological argument holds that humans can recognize and describe temporal order that is evident in the universe. Although humans can recognize and describe the temporal order that exists in the universe, they have no influence on its course. Hence, the existence of temporal order across the universe proves that God is the designer, david hume essay. The contemporary argument based on the analogy between the natural world and the one ordered by humans indicates that God must be responsible for the orderliness that is evident in the universe.
While humans order things for beauty and efficiency, God also orders the universe for the interest of humanity. In spite of the fact that significant dissimilarities exist between the natural world and the world ordered by humans, david hume essay, similarities available show that God orders the world according to His design.
Therefore, david hume essay, with His design abilities, God had a reason when created an orderly world that is also beautiful for humans to dwell and enjoy its resources. The contemporary teological argument is successful because it uses inductive reasoning to argue that the orderliness, which is david hume essay in the universe, emanates from the design work of God, david hume essay.
The temporal order that is evident supports the hypothesis that God is responsible for the existence of the universe. Like religious philosophers, the teological argument infers the existence of God from the imaginations. Section X and XI of the inquiry provide a two-pronged attack on the rationality of religious beliefs. Section X of the inquiry holds that religion has its basis on faith, which relies on miracles as evidence of religious beliefs. It takes faith for one to believe in miracles but not rationality.
In this view, Hume argues that miraculous events are not reliable in making any inferences because they present secondhand experience from david hume essay testimonies of others.
In contrast, firsthand experiences are most reliable because one infers from own experience. Moreover, section XI of the inquiry holds that religious philosophers infer the existence of God basing on their imaginations rather than experiences that they have undergone. Given that no one has experienced design ability of God, religious philosophers resort to their own imaginations when making irrational inferences regarding the existence of God who designed the universe.
Miracles do not support the existence of God because they are not empirical evidence. Hence, the two-pronged attack on rationality of religious beliefs is very persuasive as Hume is an empiricist who argues that religious beliefs have their premises on faith and imaginations, but not rational and empirical experiences.
Philosophers have formulated many theories to prove or disapprove the existence of God. David Hume is one of the philosophers who vehemently opposed religious views about the existence of God. In his arguments, Hume asserts that religious philosophers make irrational inferences regarding the existence of God basing on faith and imaginations.
Although contemporary teological argument infers the existence of God based on the design of the universe, it still has elements of imaginations that Hume objects. Overall, inferences made based on miracles and imaginations offer the two-pronged attack on the rationality of religion, which has its basis on faith.
Hume, D. An inquiry concerning human understanding. Salt Lake City: Project Gutenberg. Swinburne, R. The argument from design, david hume essay. Rea Eds. New York: Cengage Learning. Need a custom Essay sample written from scratch by professional specifically for you? certified writers online. Table of Contents. Learn More. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly.
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The Philosophy of David Hume
, time: 58:24Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.) | Online Library of Liberty
In , Hume issued a large number of new essays under the title Political Discourses, a work so successful that a second edition was published before the year was out, and a third in Early in the s, Hume drew together his various essays, along with other of his writings, in a collection entitled Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects This edition contains the thirty-nine essays included in Essays, Moral, and Literary, that made up Volume I of the posthumous Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. It also includes ten essays that were withdrawn or left unpublished by Hume for various reasons David Hume was an outstanding philosopher historian, economist, and essayist from Scotland. He was an important figure in the Scottish enlightenment, and, along with John Locke and George Berkeley, one of the three main figureheads of the influential British Empiricism movement
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