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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Dorothy Coleman
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University
Dorothy Coleman
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University
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Summary

David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) is one of the most influential works in the philosophy of religion and the most artful instance of philosophical dialogue since the dialogues of Plato. Some consider it a successful criticism of rational theology, some find it a failure, others regard it as a defense of some form of natural religion, and yet others emphasize its influence on the development of fideism, religious belief that disclaims rational justification. The great eighteenth-century historian, Edward Gibbon, said that of all Hume's philosophical works it is “the most profound, the most ingenious, and the best written.” All readers, regardless of their final assessments, can appreciate its penetrating analyses as well as its entertaining wit and ironic humor.

The topic of the Dialogues is natural religion, that is, religious belief, sentiment, and practice founded on evidence that is independent of supernatural revelation. The work presents a fictional conversation among three friends – Cleanthes, Philo, and Demea – that is overheard and later narrated by Pamphilus, Cleanthes' pupil, to his friend Hermippus. Although the names of the characters come from antiquity, the temporal setting is an eighteenth-century one, and the main characters represent philosophical or religious types. They all profess, for different reasons, that the existence of God is evident; but Philo, a skeptic, and Demea, an orthodox theist, urge that the nature of God is incomprehensible, while Cleanthes, an empirical theist, dismisses their skepticism as excessive.

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Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
And Other Writings
, pp. xi - xl
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Dorothy Coleman, Northern Illinois University
  • Book: Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808449.001
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Dorothy Coleman, Northern Illinois University
  • Book: Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808449.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Dorothy Coleman, Northern Illinois University
  • Book: Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808449.001
Available formats
×