David Hume

Dialogy o přirozeném náboženství jsou Humeovým nejdůležitějším příspěvkem k filozofii náboženství a jedním z klíčových novověkých textů tohoto oboru. Tématem knihy jsou teze tzv. přirozeného náboženství, které tvoří doplněk principů a pouček zjeveného náboženství. Bádání v rámci přirozeného náboženství si klade za cíl odpovědět na otázku, co můžeme zjistit o existenci Boha a o jeho atributech čistě pomocí rozumové úvahy a smyslové evidence. Toto bádání není založeno na tvrzeních Bible či jiných posvátných textů a nebere v potaz svědectví o zjeveních, zázracích či jakýchkoli jiných nadpřirozených jevech. V rozhovorech tří vzdělaných přátel Hume zkoumá základy náboženské víry a míru jejího racionálního opodstatnění. Rozvíjí kritiku některých tradičních argumentů pro Boží existenci, zejména tzv. teleologického argumentu, jehož podrobný rozbor zabírá velkou část textu. Jeho cílem však nebylo popřít, že Bůh existuje nebyl ateista v současném slova smyslu. Chtěl jen ukázat, že o Božích vlastnostech a způsobu jeho zasahování do světa nemůžeme s jistotou říci téměř vůbec nic. Hume se v díle dotýká i dalších důležitých témat tradičně probíraných v rámci filozofie náboženství, například problému přítomnosti zla ve světě. Pro svou důmyslnou kompozici dílo dodnes zůstává interpretační výzvou pro laické čtenáře i specializované badatele.

Ve třetí a závěrečné knize svého slavného Pojednání o lidské přirozenosti předkládá Hume veřejnosti morální filosofii. Hume svoji koncepci morálky zaměřuje na pojem morálního charakteru a ctnosti, přičemž přichází se zásadním rozlišením morálních ctností na ctnosti přirozené a uměle vytvořené. V nauce o sympatii z obecného hlediska Hume následně nabízí své řešení problému objektivity morálního soudu a při zpracování nauky o umělých ctnostech – spravedlnosti orientované na pojem vlastnictví, cti a občanské poslušnosti – poskytuje významný příspěvek filosofii práva a politické filosofii. Plně sekulární charakter Humovy morálky představuje i dnes jeden z nejdůležitějších milníků ve vývoji evropského etického myšlení.

David Hume, the 18th century philosopher, economist, and historian, uses a lively Socratic discussion by three characters to explore the nature of religion and God, particularly whether and how one can know that God exists. Having been accused of heresy during his lifetime, Hume knew not to publish this book until after his death, so he bequeathed the manuscript, a few days before his death, to his printer, but if the printer didn't publish it within 2 years, the manuscript would go to Hume's nephew, also named David Hume, which it did and the nephew did publish it.One of the oldest and most popular arguments for the existence of God is the design argument, that order and "purpose" in the world must be proof of a divine origin: Where one sees a watch, one may infer the existence of the watchmaker. Here Philo, Cleanthes, and Demea volley their arguments back and forth. Cleanthes advocates for the existence of God based upon observed design in the world, Philo counters that argument, and Demea represents rigid orthodoxy. The dialogues continue for a total of 12 parts, exploring many ideas such as that there may be more than one supreme God, that our universe may have been spawned without a creator from an older one as a plant procreates by spreading its seeds, and other questions about the natural world and the concept of the Deity. Scholars disagree regarding which character most closely represents Hume's own voice in the dialogues, but most say that Philo speaks for Hume. The Dialogues and Hume's other philosophical writings about the nature of "knowing" would lead one to a conclusion that Hume was an agnostic, not an atheist.In the introduction, as a letter from Pamphilus to Hermippus, Hume explains his choice of the dialogue as the style for this presentation: "Any question of philosophy ... which is so OBSCURE and UNCERTAIN, that human reason can reach no fixed determination with regard to it; if it should be treated at all, seems to lead us naturally into the style of dialogue and conversation. Reasonable men may be allowed to differ, where no one can reasonably be positive. Opposite sentiments, even without any decision, afford an agreeable amusement; and if the subject be curious and interesting, the book carries us, in a manner, into company; and unites the two greatest and purest pleasures of human life, study and society."Open this eBook and you will find yourself in Cleanthes' library alongside Pamphilus, the pupil of Cleanthes, as he silently audits these dialogues concerning natural religion among Cleanthes, the precise philosopher, Philo, the sceptic, and Demea, the inflexibly orthodox believer.Images of the actual hand-written manuscript and editorial notes about this and all of Hume's published writings are available at the website http://www.davidhume.org/.(Sources: Wikipedia and www.davidhume.org, which is a website created and maintained by Amyas Merivale, University of Leeds, and Peter Millican, Hertford College, University of Oxford.)

David Hume is known for his philosophical writings, but he also wrote on politics, history, and economics. This eBook contains 7 economic essays which were first published in Hume's Political Discourses (1752) and republished in Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects, Volume 1 (1758, 1777). One essay has been praised by the Nobel-Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, who said in his newspaper column:"... Hume also helped found economics: his 'Of the Balance of Trade', published 34 years before The Wealth of Nations, was arguably the first example of modern economic reasoning, based on what amounts to a stylized model, albeit one without any equations or diagrams." (New York Times, 8 May 2011, "Hume Day".) ... "You could argue that modern economics really began with David Hume’s 'Of the Balance of Trade', whose core is a gloriously clear thought experiment...." (ibid., 2 Feb 2011, "Models, Plain and Fancy".)Adam Smith (1723-1790), the author of The Wealth of Nations (1776), is commonly considered the "father of modern economics", but Hume pre-dated Smith in that regard. Both were Scottish philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment, and although Hume was a decade older than Smith, they became lifelong friends after they met in 1750.The essays cover Commerce, Money, Interest, Balance of Trade, Jealousy of Trade, Taxes, and Public Credit (national debt). Hume explained economic phenomena we observe even today, such as the self-correction of job migration to lower cost countries, money supply issues, the undesirable results of tariffs, military buildup in underdeveloped countries, and other topics that give insights into the happenings we read about in the news almost daily.This eBook is available only for personal and educational uses, non-commercial, with attribution to the source www.davidhume.org.

Entertaining and insightful, David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion are considered to be among the most important philosophical works on the topic of religion. Each investigates the formation and consequences of religious belief: taking the form of a Platonic dialogue between three speakers (a sceptic, an empiricist and a theologian/mystic), the first work scrutinises the various arguments for the existence of God; while the second, which follows the rise of polytheism and its transformation to deism, provides a history on the development of religious thought.

David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion had not yet been published when he died in 1776. Even though the manuscript was mostly written during the 1750s, it did not appear until 1779. The subject itself was too delicate and controversial, and Hume’s dialectical examination of religious knowledge was especially provocative.