Does Hume believe in God?
This combination of skepticism and empiricism leads many to presume that, regarding the question of God, Hume is an atheist or, at best, an agnostic. Hume challenges some of the arguments for the existence of God, but repeatedly in his writings, he affirms God’s existence and speculates about God’s nature.
What is Hume’s view about God’s perfection?
In this section Hume emphasizes the point that God’s being is “so different, and so much superior” to human nature that we are not able to form any clear or distinct idea of his nature and attributes, much less one based on our own qualities and characteristics.
What did Hume believe?
Hume was an Empiricist, meaning he believed “causes and effects are discoverable not by reason, but by experience”. He goes on to say that, even with the perspective of the past, humanity cannot dictate future events because thoughts of the past are limited, compared to the possibilities for the future.
What did Richard Dawkins say about evil and God?
Quoting from the Old Testament, Dawkins describes its God as “the most unpleasant character in all fiction,” and expresses similar disregard for the New Testament’s “sadomasochistic doctrine of atonement for original sin.”
What were David Hume’s last words?
‘ ‘Doctor,’ said he, ‘as I believe you would not choose to tell anything but the truth, you had better tell him that I am dying as fast as my enemies, if I have any, could wish, and as easily and cheerfully as my best friends could desire.
What is Hume’s ought problem?
The is–ought problem, as articulated by the Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume, arises when one makes claims about what ought to be that are based solely on statements about what is. The is–ought problem is closely related to the fact–value distinction in epistemology.
What does Hume say about cause and effect?
Hume argues that we cannot conceive of any other connection between cause and effect, because there simply is no other impression to which our idea may be traced. Hume’s Copy Principle demands that an idea must have come from an impression, but we have no impression of efficacy in the event itself.
What does Richard Dawkins say about suffering?
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation.
What does Richard Dawkins say about the Bible?
Prof Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford, said: “A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian.” “People who do not know the Bible well have been gulled into thinking it is a good guide to morality.”
What is Augustine’s definition of evil?
Augustine proposed that evil could not exist within God, nor be created by God, and is instead a by-product of God’s creativity. He believed that this evil will, present in the human soul, was a corruption of the will given to humans by God, making suffering a just punishment for the sin of humans.
How does Hume present the problem of evil?
Hume presents the Evidential Problem of Evil in two ways. He focuses on prior probability and on gratuitous evil. Prior probability involves asking whether anyone would conclude that God existed from looking at the universe if they weren’t already religious.
What did Hume conclude about the stranger to our world?
Hume concludes that the Stranger to our world would NOT decide it was designed by a good God – that conclusion seems unlikely and has low prior probability. Philo also argues the likelihood of gratuitous (unnecessary) evil. He outlines four factors that account for most of the natural evil in the world.
What’s the solution to the problem of evil?
Most solutions to the Problem of Evil consist of showing that it would be logically impossible for God to prevent or undo evil without sacrificing something very precious, like human goodness or freewill, or compromising another of God’s characteristics, like his goodness and justice.
What is the problem of evil in religion?
The problem of evil is one of the most famous and enduring problems in the philosophy of religion. Simply stated: if God is all good and all powerful, how can He allow evil and suffering to exist in the world?