Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

by Hume, David; Bell, Martin; Bell, Martin; Bell, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780140445367
• ISBN10: 0140445366
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-07-03
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• More Book Details

Summary

In the posthumously published Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion , the Enlightenment philosopher David Hume attacked traditional arguments for the existence of God, claiming that religion is founded on ignorance and irrational fears. Though calm and courteous in tone - at times even tactfully ambiguous - the conversations between Hume's vividly realized fictional figures form perhaps the most searching case ever mounted against orthodox Christian theological thinking and the 'deism' of the time, which pointed to the wonders of creation as evidence of God's Design. Hume's characters debate these issues with extraordinary passion, lucidity and humour, in one of the most compelling philosophical works ever written. Based on Hume's manuscript, Martin Bell's edition provides an accessible modern version, while his fascinating introduction sets Hume's religious scepticism in the philosophical and scientific context of its time.

Author Biography

David Hume (1711 - 1776) was a philosopher who wrote A Treatise of Human Nature and considered the nature of religion.

JM Bell is Professor of Philosophy at the Manchester Metropolitan University and Head of the Department of Politics and Philosophy.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Preface to Second Edition	p. vii
Editions, Reprints, and Translations of the Dialogues	p. x
Text of This Edition	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Hume's Relations to His Calvinist Environment	p. 1
Hume's Views Regarding Religion in General	p. 9
Hume's Reasons for Retaining the Terms 'God' and 'Religion' in Defining His Own Positions as Bearing on the Argument of the Dialogues	p. 25
Hume's Argument Against Miracles, and His Criticism of the Argument from Design, in the Enquiry	p. 45
the Argument of the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion	p. 57
An Account of My Last Interview with David Hume, Esq.1	p. 76
Appendix B1 Bayle on Strato's 'Atheism'	p. 80
Evidence Bearing on the Times of Composition and Revision of the Dialogues, and on Hume's Arrangements for Their Post- Humous Publication	p. 87
A Critical Analysis of the Main Argument of the Dialogues, with Some Explanatory Notes1	p. 97
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion	p. 125
Supplement	p. 229
Index of Proper Names	p. 249
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