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    Briefly: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
    Briefly: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
    Briefly: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
    Ebook75 pages58 minutes

    Briefly: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

    By David Mills Daniel

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    About this ebook

    Briefly: Hume’s Dialogues is a summarized version of David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which is designed to assist university and sixth-form students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of this key text in the Philosophy of Religion. Based on, and page referenced to, Popkin’s Hackett edition of the Dialogues, an important fea
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSCM Press
    Release dateJan 7, 2013
    ISBN9780334048343
    Briefly: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

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      Briefly - David Mills Daniel

      Briefly: Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, SCM Press.

      © David Mills Daniel 2006

      The author and publisher acknowledge material reproduced from R. H. Popkin, ed., Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 2nd edition, Hackett, 1998. Reprinted by permission of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

      All rights reserved.

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      0 334 04025 6/9780 334 04025 5

      First published in 2006 by SCM Press

      9–17 St Alban’s Place,

      London N1 0NX

      www.scm-canterburypress.co.uk

      SCM Press is a division of

      SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd

      Printed and bound in Great Britain by

      William Clowes Ltd, Beccles, Suffolk

      To My Children

      Contents

      Introduction

      Context

      Who was David Hume?

      What are the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion?

      Some Issues to Consider

      Suggestions for Further Reading

      Detailed Summary of David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

      Pamphilus to Hermippus

      Part I

      Part II

      Part III

      Part IV

      Part V

      Part VI

      Part VII

      Part VIII

      Part IX

      Part X

      Part XI

      Part XII

      Overview

      Glossary

      Introduction

      The SCM Briefly series is designed to enable students and general readers to acquire knowledge and understanding of key texts in philosophy, philosophy of religion, theology and ethics. While the series will be especially helpful to those following university and A-level courses in philosophy, ethics and religious studies, it will in fact be of interest to anyone looking for a short guide to the ideas of a particular philosopher or theologian.

      Each book in the series takes a piece of work by one philosopher and provides a summary of the original text, which adheres closely to it, and includes direct quotations from it, thus enabling the reader to follow each development in the philosopher’s argument(s). Throughout the summary, there are page references to the original philosophical writing, so that the reader has ready access to the primary text. In the Introduction to each book, you will find details of the edition of the philosophical work referred to.

      In Briefly: Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, we refer to David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, edited by Richard H. Popkin, second edition, Indianapolis/ Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0872204022.

      Each Briefly begins with an Introduction, followed by a chapter on the Context in which the work was written. Who was this writer? Why was this book written? With some Issues to Consider, and some Suggested Further Reading, this Briefly aims to get anyone started in their philosophical investigation. The detailed summary of the philosophical work is followed by a concise chapter-by-chapter overview and an extensive glossary of terms.

      All words that appear in the Glossary are highlighted in bold type the first time that they appear in the Detailed Summary and the Overview of this Briefly guide.

      Context

      Who was David Hume?

      David Hume, perhaps the greatest British philosopher, was born in Edinburgh in 1711, and educated at Edinburgh University. He showed an early interest in philosophy, and, after living in France for a time, published his first philosophical work, the Treatise of Human Nature (1738–40). It was not particularly well received, but Hume’s empirical approach to philosophy meant that he became known as a sceptic and even an atheist. This made him an object of suspicion to the religious and cultural leaders of eighteenth-century Scotland, and may have been a factor in his not being appointed professor of philosophy at Edinburgh University in 1745. Although Hume published further works of philosophy, including An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), he turned increasingly to writing about the history of England, which brought him considerable fame. After a period as librarian to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, Hume was secretary to the British Embassy in Paris, subsequently returning to Scotland, where he died in 1776. In his autobiography, Hume described himself as cheerful, sociable and even-tempered.

      What are the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion?

      Hume began work on the Dialogues in the 1750s. However, the manuscript was not completed until shortly before his death, and was not published until 1779. In view of the book’s controversial content, it is not, perhaps, surprising that it was written in dialogue form, making it difficult to identify Hume with the views of any one of the three protagonists. These represent different philosophical positions: Cleanthes, the advocate of natural theology, Philo, the sceptic; and Demea, the defender of religious orthodoxy.

      On the face of it, at least, all three protagonists accept that God exists.

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