David Hume
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An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a book by David Hume, a philosopher from the 18th century. Hume is known for being an empiricist philosopher, meaning he believed that sensory experiences and solid evidence are all that matters when it comes to knowledge. Empiricism posits that rationalism and empirical evidence are required to truly be able to "know" anything, that no knowledge is inherent to humans and every person is a blank slate until...
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An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume is a philosophical work that explores the nature of morality and its foundation. Hume argues that morality is derived from human sentiments rather than reason. He rejects the idea of a priori moral principles and suggests that our moral judgments are based on our emotions and experiences.
Hume emphasizes the role of sympathy and benevolence in moral decision-making. He contends that our...
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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. What should we teach young people about religion? The characters Demea, Cleanthes, and Philo passionately present and...
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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...