Hume on religion stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. One of the never ending processes in life is the process of knowledge acquisition which to the lay man may. A presentation revising the key topics covered during our study of the problem of evil. Thanks to ujez2718 for supplying todays daily argument. Pdf god and the existence of evil, according to hume, st. Humes dialogues against the argument from evil 1025. A summary of part x in david humes dialogues concerning natural religion. Humes guillotine can be reformulated as a moral argument for gods existence. To wit, augustine posits that evil must be considered a privation of the good, so much so as to reach the point of complete nonentity. On this basis, the existence of evil shows that we cannot infer that a.
Therefore it need a free signup process to obtain the book. In the dialogues hume opens his discussion of the problem of evil by having philo the sceptic run through a long catalogue of the variety and extent of misery and suffering in this world. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content peter kivy voltaire, hume, and the problem of evil voltaires candide is subtitled optimism. It contains groundbreaking discussions within its pages, including the attention paid to humes account of mental representation, the centrality in hume of what garrett calls sensebased concepts, and a fascinating reconstruction of humes naturalistic account of normativity. Philos argument from evil in a muchdiscussed passage in part x of humes dialogues concerning natural religion 1779 has been interpreted in three main ways. God is almighty, god is perfectly good, and evil exists.
Humes succinct statement has since provided the framework within which the logical problem of evil has been discussed. Phillips problems with evil and with god researchgate. The most striking aspect of hobbess position on this subject is his claim. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of david hume 17111776 and what it means. The other is what hume calls mysticism, a position that avoids the problem of evil by maintaining that god is wholly other, and that god is therefore good in a fashion that mere humans simply cannot fathom. One cannot hold all three beliefs without contradiction. This is an excerpt from david humes posthumously published dialogues concerning natural religion.
What is the relevance of such circumstances in humes formulation of the problem of evil. In book viii, chapter vii, of the confessions, augustine describes himself as. This theme is in the background of the selection from humes dialogues concerning natural religion that deal with the problem of evil. The problem of evil for theists was how to reconcile suffering with a benevolent god. The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god. Using three fictional charactersdemea, cleanthes and philowho are debating the problem the evil, hume indeed seeks to show that one cannot demonstrate that god is all good and all powerful using human experience and human. One is cleanthes, the defender of the argument from design and opponent of the cosmological argument. In considering his alternative of the general providence hume is shown to be closer to theism than has often been thought. The problem of evil the philosophical problem of evil is the challenge of reconciling belief in god with evil in the world. The project gutenberg ebook of an enquiry concerning the. Consider hume s paraphrase of the epi curean statement of the problem of evil. From a nontheistic perspective, joshua greenes recent work on ethics goes to the heart of the problem. The philosophy of david hume alfred weber there are no bodies, the idealists dogmatically declared.
My topic is humes treatment of the problem of evil in the dialogues and elsewhere in his philosophical writings. Dialogues concerning natural religion penguin classics. The problem calls into question all empirical claims made in everyday life or through the scientific method, and, for that reason, the philosopher c. Dialogues concerning natural religion is arguably humes best work, and a classic in the philosophy of religion. As the first known presentation by the greek philosopher epicurus, as attributed and made popular by david hume, puts it. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Is god willing to prevent evil but unable to do so. A brief introduction to humes explanation of the problem of evil. If he is willing but unable he is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of god. A benevolent and omnipotent creator does not exist c. Some adaptations from the original text were made while formatting it.
David humes various writings concerning problems of religion are among the. A summary of dialogues concerning natural religion in s david hume 17111776. The fundamental problem of evil for hume, was evils potential to drive people to the notion of a particular providence with its attendant damaging passions. Broad said that induction is the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy. God is infinitely good good is opposed to evil, so god will eliminate evil as far as god can god is infinitely powerful no limits on what god can do evil exists. Hume was the second of two sons born to joseph home of ninewells, an advocate, and his wife the hon. In humes dialogues concerning natural religion philo presents an interesting argument, which is referred to as the argument from evil. David humes an enquiry concerning the principles of morals. The problem of evil oxford readings in philosophy 1st.
Pdf it is widely held that the logical problem of evil, which alleges an inconsistency. Although augustines position regarding the problem of evil shifts, his idea of the primacy of the soul is still evident in his thought process. What is the relevance of such circumstances in humes. In chapter ten of his book dialogues concerning natural religion, david hume discusses the problem of evil. God and the existence of evil, according to hume, st. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the humes dialogues concerning natural religion, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. Understandably, given the interpretive challenges posed by the dialogue form, the focus of david humes interest in religion in the dialogues concerning natural religion can be difficult to pinpoint. If any two of these are true, the third one should be false. What are the differences between augustinian theodicy and irenaean theodicy. Enquiry ii thus, for example, the background color of the screen at which i am now looking is an impression, while my memory of the color of my mothers hair. Humes fundamental problem of evil cambridge university press. Project muse voltaire, hume, and the problem of evil.
The authors first detail the pressures and forms of repression that confronted any 18 th century thinker wishing to challenge publicly the truth of christian. Rather, it is only when a character is considered in general, without reference to our particular interest, that it causes such a feeling or sentiment, as denominates it morally good or evil treatise, book iii, part i, sec. The theistic concept of god as supremely powerful, intelligent, and good makes the problem very difficult because such a being, it would seem, would make a much better world than this one. It is about an impossibly naive young man who suffers incredible misfortune, while counselled by his teacher, pangloss, to perceive the hidden benefits that this merely apparent misfortune and misery produce.
Dialogues concerning natural religion 1779 part 11. Problem of evil, problem in theology and the philosophy of religion that arises for any view that affirms the following three propositions. Reichenbach sought to resolve humes problem of the justification of induction by means of a pragmatic vindication that relies heavily on the. As you will recall, the dialogues have three characters. Also on offer is a reply by philosopher george schlesinger, one that seeks to show that the existence of evil is no threat at all to the existence of god. Humes position on belief in miracles is essentially evidentialist in nature. The most common view of the link between evil and atheism, at least by atheists in the philosophical literature, is that the former provides deductive proof of the latter. This text is in the public domain and may be freely reproduced.
The aim is to provide an overall view of humes position which also takes account of. Process theology and open theism are other positions that limit gods. However, there are criticisms of evidentialism and defences of non. The basic idea of the argument is that because there is so much evil and pain in this world there is no way there is an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent god. Since hume, there have been attempts to solve the problem of evil by attacking. Whether you are a theist, atheist, agnostic, or anywhere in between, you will enjoy humes book as he makes the case for all sides of the argument but in classic hume fashion does not take an affirmative position on either way. Since well before humes time, the problem has been the basis of a positive argument for atheism. Although the problem arguably dates back to the pyrrhonism of ancient philosophy, as well as the carvaka. If god know under what circumstances evil occurs, has ability to prevent it, and wants to prevent it, then there would be no evil in world. But often overlooked is that humes problematic takes the form of a dilemma, with the traditional problem representing only one horn. Pdf on nov 29, 2014, oleg nekrassovski and others published.
God does not exist as a consequence of this it follows that either god is not. In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view. If god is 3o, then he would know when evil will occur, be able to prevent its occurrence, and want to do so. Goodness in man is not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good. Addressing thedialogues concerning natural religion, he compares humes views to those of such authors as herbert of cherbury and bishop joseph butler, traces changes in humes theory of meaning, and discusses the ontological and cosmological arguments and humes treatment of the problem of evil. Hume generally presents the evidential problem of evil in two ways. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. The problem of evil is one of the most discussed topics in the philosophy of religion. If such a creator exists, then there can be no evil. Hume on evil god either wishes to take away evils and is unable. The book of job, on the other hand, is unorthodox with respect to the accepted orthodoxy, for it frankly treats the difficult fact that the justice of god is not confirmed. If such a creator exists, then there can be no evil p3. Using three fictional charactersdemea, cleanthes and philowho are debating the problem the evil, hume indeed seeks to show that one cannot demonstrate that god is all good and all powerful using human experience and human understanding alone. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
They analyze the nuanced nature of humes philosophical discourse and provide an informed look into his position on the possible content and rational justification of religious belief. Humes analysis of human belief begins with a careful distinction among our mental contents. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of dialogues concerning natural religion and what it means. For some time, however, there has been a need for a collection of readings that adequately represents recent and ongoing writing on the topic. Lecture david hume 17111776 this lecture is a longish one. Perhaps the most difficult issue concerning the relation between morality and. The position maintained here understands humes treatment of the problem of evil as a challenge to belief in the moral nature of the divine.
This is an outstanding, incredibly stimulating book. Properly interpreted, these claims form the basis for a consistent and coherent christian solution to the problem of evil. He begins with animal suffering of various kinds the strong preying on the weak etc. Life after death experience nde with steve gardipee, vietnam war story one of the best ndes duration. Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising.