The position maintained here understands humes treatment of the problem of evil. David hume famously expressed the problem of evil in his his book, dialogues concerning natural religion 1779. He also defends what is now called the problem of evil, namely, that the. Pick 5 books and well tell you what you should bingewatch while youre social.
If a book can answer hume, it can answer most skeptics today. A benevolent and omnipotent creator does not exist c. A brief introduction to humes explanation of the problem of evil. If such a creator exists, then there can be no evil p3. In this way, it is philos position that all we know about god is that he exists.
Humes fundamental problem of evil cambridge university press. The book was published after humes death, because attacking religious beliefs was considered a sensitive subject. Hume on religion stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Life after death experience nde with steve gardipee, vietnam war story one of the best ndes duration. The problem of evil is one of oldest and most intractable problems in the. Pick 5 books and well tell you what you should bingewatch while youre. Problem of evil and the design argument in order to explain the problem of evil, how it figures in humes discussion of the argument from design and whether there is a personal acceptance of it, each point needs to be examined. The problem of evil 393 since hume, there have been attempts to solve the problem of evil by attacking or reinterpreting one of the first four assumptions. The fundamental problem of evil for hume, was evil s potential to drive people to the notion of a particular providence with its attendant damaging passions. If it doesnt try to answer hume, move on to one that does. A novel description language for twoagent dialogue games. Process theology and open theism are other positions that limit gods. The problem of evil for theists was how to reconcile suffering with a benevolent god. A summary of dialogues concerning natural religion in s david hume 1711 1776.
The cosmological argument and gods necessaryexistence. In another article, humes solution to the necessitarian problem of evil. The first position has hume denying any form of supernaturalism, and is. Philos argument from evil in a muchdiscussed passage in part x of humes dialogues. My top 5 books on the problem of evil christianity today. The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god. David humes formulation of the problem of evil in dialogues concerning natural religion. In considering his alternative of the general providence hume is shown to be closer to theism than has often been thought. God does not exist as a consequence of this it follows that either god is not.
A summary of part x in david humes dialogues concerning natural religion. As the first known presentation by the greek philosopher epicurus, as attributed and made popular by david hume, puts it. The book takes the form of a play, in which three characters debate religion. The problem of evil david hume humanities libertexts. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The problem of evil and the design argument 1487 words. Hume on evil god either wishes to take away evils and is unable. He appeals to the position that he has been pushing all along. Humes dialogues concerning natural religion utilizes three. Admitting your position, replied philo, which yet is extremely doubtful, you must at. T his is the classic philosophical assault on the idea of god being allgood, allwise, and allpowerful. A summary of dialogues concerning natural religion in s david hume 17111776. In chapter ten of his book dialogues concerning natural religion, david hume discusses the problem of evil. If he is willing but unable he is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of 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 understanding alone. David humes various writings concerning problems of religion are among the. The most rational position, he says, is a philosophical belief in some. Mill, for example, suggested a radical weakening of 1 and 2. Voltaire, hume, and the problem of evil johns hopkins university.
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