Hume's view on the problem of evil books

An important statement of the problem of evil, attributed to epicurus, was cited by the scottish philosopher david hume in his dialogues concerning natural religion 1779. In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to reunite the existence of evil with that of a god who is a being with unlimited power, and has the knowledge of everything that there is to know. In humes dialoguesspecifically the problem of evil is presented as a clash between god and the suffering humans endure. A free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. Lewis, author of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, was a tireless academic defender of christianity.

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. Hume s dialogues concerning natural religion and the problem of evil. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The problem of evil is usually seen as the problem of how the existence of god can be reconciled with the existence of evil in the world. The problem of evil is one of the most discussed topics in the philosophy of religion. One interpretation of hume s view of the self has been argued for by philosopher and psychologist james giles. Hume s life and the background to the dialogues the ideas and text of dialogues hume s continuing importance to philosophy. On this basis, the existence of evil shows that we cannot infer that a benevolent and omnipotent creator exists. Life after death experience nde with steve gardipee, vietnam war story one of the best ndes duration.

My topic is humes treatment of the problem of evil in the dialogues and elsewhere in his philosophical writings. This is the classic philosophical assault on the idea of god being allgood, all wise, and allpowerful. Indeed, the existence of suffering and evil is not just a. Evil is a problem, not because there is evil in the world or that there is so much of it in the world. Countering in particular the teleological concept, hume attacks theism mercilessly. Voltaire, hume, and the problem of evil johns hopkins university. 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. On humes view, it is possible for there to be a peaceful society of property owners who transfer and exchange material possessions before there is government. One cannot hold all three beliefs without contradiction. Still, his discussion of religion is systematic, sophisticated, and sustained. The aim is to provide an overall view of humes position which also takes account of the historical debate associated with the problem of evil. The fundamental problem of evil for hume, was evil s potential to drive people to the notion. Addressing the dialogues concerning natural religion, he compares hume s views to those of such authors as herbert of cherbury and bishop joseph butler, traces changes in hume s theory of meaning, and discusses the ontological and cosmological arguments and hume s treatment of the problem of evil. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of david hume 17111776 and what it means.

Critical and interpretative issues will also be addressed. Three introductory books that take quite different approaches to humes metaphysics and epistemology are ayer 1980, blackburn 2008 and wright 2009. Demea offers a the view that evil helps us become more moral. In fact, humes views on religion were so controversial that he never held a. On this basis, the existence of evil shows that we cannot infer that a.

Humes inexplicable mystery by keith yandell overdrive. References are by part and paragraph number, using the text and numbering at. While epistemology may be his primary battleground, the problem of evil attracts much of his attention. The problem of evil refers to the challenge of reconciling belief in an omnipotent. This theme is in the background of the selection from hume s dialogues concerning natural religion that deal with the problem of evil. The scottish philosopher david hume 17111776 is widely regarded as the greatest and most significant englishspeaking philosopher and often seen as having had the most influence on the way philosophy is practiced today in the west. Gods allowance of evil and suffering does not seem to make sense in the light of human experience and human conceptions of goodness and justice. These arguments are well indeed evident in david humes the problem of evil as well as russells teapot. Explaining philosopher david hume s problem of causation, necessary connection and skepticism with the wave structure of matter wsm. Humes fundamental problem of evil cambridge university press. Using three fictional charactersdemea, cleanthes and philowho are debating the problem the evil, hume indeed seeks to show that one.

He begins with animal suffering of various kinds the strong preying on the weak etc. Essay about the problem of evil in philosophy 550 words. Plantingas response to humes argument regarding the problem. Does the problem of evil present an insuperable difficulty to belief in god or can it be answered defend your answer. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. One is cleanthes, the defender of the argument from design and opponent of the cosmological argument. Youve all but admitted that short of begging the question, you cant even address hume s problem. Though evil exists now, god will eliminate it in the future. Hume argues that the practice of justice is a solution to a problem we naturally face. Lewiss classic is still the most wideranging, accessible, and cogent response to the problem of evil. This accessible literary criticism is perfect for anyone faced with david hume 17111776 essays, papers, tests, exams, or for anyone who needs to create a david hume 17111776 lesson plan. Key concepts of the philosophy of david hume hubpages. Description and explanation of the major themes of david hume 17111776. The problem of evil for theists was how to reconcile suffering with a benevolent god.

The book takes the form of a play, in which three characters debate religion. Nachmanides, the great thcentury jewish scholar, wrote that the problem of evil is the most difficult matter, which is at the root both of faith and of apostasy, with which scholars of all ages, people and tongues have struggled. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of dialogues concerning natural religion and what it means. Also discover topics, titles, outlines, thesis statements, and conclusions for your problem of evil essay.

In this post i would like to examine plantingas response to humes argument regarding the problem of evil and offer an objection to plantingas response. The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god see theism. Voltaire published candide in january 1659, but humes work, dialogues concerning natural religion, of which evil was talked about was not even finished until 1676, and humes discussion of the problem of evil didnt even show up until book x which was very much towards the end of the book. From his point of view, evil provides the necessary problems through which we take part in what he calls soulmaking. In the dialogues hume opens his discussion of the problem of evil by having philo the sceptic run through a long catalogue of the variety and extent of misery and suffering in this world. The problem of evil and the design argument 1487 words 6 pages. This is a metaphysical idea about the structure of reality.

Sep 30, 2011 humes claim seems to imply that inductive logic is essentially not really logic at all. David hume philosopher and champion of materialism, 17111776. From this point of view, evil is a means to an end in as much as if it did not exist, there would be no means of spiritual development. This text is in the public domain and may be freely reproduced. Of all the issues in the philosophy of religion, the problem of reconciling belief in god with evil in the world arguably commands more attention than any other. He changed the spelling of his name in 1734, because of the fact that his surname home, pronounced hume, was not known in england. Metaphysics and epistemology bibliography philpapers. The position maintained here understands humes treatment of the problem of evil. Although there may be many arguments such as william paleys teleological argument that may supply evidence to contradict david humes and bertrand russells theory.

The problem simply stems from basic beliefs or assumptions pertaining to the attributes of god. However, the existence of evil and suffering in the world provides a challenge to the loving god of classical theism. The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with. Or as the first known presentation by the greek philosopher epicurus, as attributed and made popular by david hume, puts it. The basic idea of the argument is that because there is so much evil and pain in this world there is no way there is an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent. For him, it is not clear what religions sociopolitical consequences tell us about its truth. A summary of dialogues concerning natural religion in s david hume 17111776. My top 5 books on the problem of evil christianity today. The problem of evil cannot be solved philosophy essay. The book was published after hume s death, because attacking religious beliefs was considered a sensitive subject. God does not exist as a consequence of this it follows that either god is not. Strictly speaking, on leibnizs view no other possible world but. In this chapter, davies tees up the issue of the problem of evil by introducing the problem as framed by david hume.

Learn more about his life and ideas in this article. He writes that reasoning alone cannot establish the grounds of causation. Addresses some important preliminary issues before exploring the question of how an incompatibility argument from evil is best formulated, and. These conclusions, however, were not advocated by the eminent 18th century philosopher, david hume.

It contains groundbreaking discussions within its pages, including the attention paid to humes account of mental representation, the centrality in hume of what garrett calls sensebased concepts, and a fascinating reconstruction of humes naturalistic account of normativity. David hume, scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. His linear conception of cause and effect is incredibly artificial, and is scientifically useful within only very narrow parameters. For some time, however, there has been a need for a collection of readings that adequately represents recent and ongoing writing on the topic. Hume solved the problem of evil by claiming that the divine was amoral but not by denying gods existence which he needed in order to advocate his favoured notion of a general providence. This volume fills that need, offering the most uptodate collection of recent scholarship on the problem of evil. Life after death experience nde with steve gardipee, vietnam war story one of the best ndes. If such a creator exists, then there can be no evil. How can you cleanthes still persevere in your anthropomorphism and assert the moral attributes of the deity, his justice, benevolence, mercy and rectitude to be of the same nature with these virtues in human creatures.

Therefore, the world contains evil, but evil is consistent with the christian view of god. Humes mother, katherine nee falconer, was the daughter of sir david falconer. The theistic concept of god as supremely powerful, intelligent, and good makes the problem very difficult because such a being, it would seem, would make a. The problem is not found in the lack of balance between good and evil in the world. Hume situates his introduction to the problem of induction in a treatise of human nature within his larger discussion on the nature of causes and effects book i, part iii, section vi.

Hume holds that the evidence of the problem of evil counts much more. Generally, the problem of evil arises when one tries to reconcile gods existence with the presence of evil on earth. The traditional problem of evil comes in the form of a. The problem of evil is one of the most important problems faced by theologians and philosophers alike. A summary of part x in david hume s dialogues concerning natural religion. Another approach considers how god may act over time.

If such a creator exists, then there can be no evil p3. In chapter ten of his book dialogues concerning natural religion, david hume discusses the problem of evil. And newton s picture of the world is anything but right in any nuanced sense of the term. This is an outstanding, incredibly stimulating book. This is the classic philosophical assault on the idea of god being allgood, allwise, and allpowerful. Augustine, in his book confessions, recognised this problem. A benevolent and omnipotent creator does not exist c. Humes fundamental problem of evil philosophy cambridge core. If any two of these are true, the third one should be false. Humes law definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Humes father died just after his second birthday, and he was raised by his mother, who never remarried. Problem of evil, the problem of reconciling the existence of evil with the.

Misery and evil as a motivation for religion i am indeed persuaded, said philo, that the best and indeed the only method of bringing every one to a due sense of religion, is by just representations of the. Mar 07, 20 david hume was the most important british philosopher of the eighteenth century. Evil and david humes the problem of evil 926 words cram. Just ask and you can get many people to agree to a claim such as. Humes fundamental problem of evil volume 89 issue 4 james tarrant. Voltaire, hume, and the problem of evil researchgate. The problem of evil the philosophical problem of evil is the challenge of reconciling belief in god with evil in the world. Hume on religion stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. In humes dialogues concerning natural religion philo presents an interesting argument, which is referred to as the argument from evil. The problem of evil is discussed in parts 10 and 11. This is an excerpt from david hume s posthumously published dialogues concerning natural religion. I think the statements presented in the dialogues to prove or describe the existence of evil does not. God is infinitely good good is opposed to evil, so god will eliminate evil as far as god can god is infinitely powerful no limits on what god can do evil exists.

Antony flew examines his views on free will and evil. The eighteenthcentury scottish empiricist david hume has been regarded as a notorious enemy of religion. His dialogues concerning natural religion is a classic text in the philosophy of religion. David hume 17111776, dialogues concerning natural religion humes thesis what hes trying to prove. Humes empiricism brought no less emphasis on the topic but did, however, generate dramatically disparate conclusions. Does hume accept this argument, and its consequences. For many people this problem provides sufficient grounds for them to reject belief in god altogether, or at the very least to confess that while there may be a god, he is not really worth believing in. Humes dialogues against the argument from evil 1025 words. The monotheistic god of christianity, judaism and islam assumes the divine qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and omni benevolence.

Indeed, hume s treatment of the problem of evil showed that his quarrel in the natural history of religion 1 and the enquiry concerning human understanding, 2 section xi, was with a particular providence rather than the possibility of a divine orderer. Many people will tell you that evil is a necessary part of the world. The problem of evil elements in the philosophy of religion. As you will recall, the dialogues have three characters. The problem of evil oxford readings in philosophy 1st. Lewis published the problem of pain, his first major defence of christianity. Dialogues concerning natural religion 1779 part 11. Jun 18, 20 philo s argument from evil in a muchdiscussed passage in part x of hume s dialogues concerning natural religion has been interpreted in three main ways. David hume quotes, enquiries concerning the human understanding and principles of morals, pictures, biography, life and writings. Feb, 2012 a brief introduction to hume s explanation of the problem of evil. Despite the enduring impact of his theory of knowledge, hume seems to have considered himself chiefly as a moralist. Wileyblackwell david humes public life as a philosopher and an intellectual began with the publication of the first two books of a treatise of human nature in 1739 when he was only 28 years old.

I would like to get feedback on what ive been thinking about these issues. Hume is widely considered to be the materialist big bad wolf that gobbled up paley and cleared the way for sciences war against religion it is often pointed out that hume denied cause and effect, but in craigs kalam cosmological argument p141 he comments even hume himself confessed that his academic denial of the principle. However, if we view humes attack against religion as systematic, then consequencebased critiques fulfill a crucial role. John and ken discuss the problem of evil with their guest, michael tooley from the university of colorado at boulder, coauthor of knowledge of god. An omnibenevolent god would want to eliminate evil. The eighteenthcentury scottish empiricist david hume has been. A brief introduction to hume s explanation of the problem of evil. It also causes major problems for the sciences but though scientists have taken note of this problem the use of the scientific method seems to still be the best method of obtaining useful knowledge and predicting outcomes. Jun 03, 20 rich legum s modern philosophy course 19.