Abstract
In this chapter, the author shows how Hume's arguments are related to Boyle's thought, and argues that understanding Hume's thought in this context gives us reason to take Hume's scepticism about the existence of the external world seriously. He sets the scene by describing two different approaches to the relationship between reason and religion in seventeenth-century England. The author explores Boyle's claims concerning the two pillars of natural theology, the immortality of the soul and final causes, and claims with which Locke and Clarke would have been in total agreement. Then the author examines Boyle's views on reason's inability to comprehend the content of revelation, and views with which Locke and Clarke would have vehemently disagreed. Finally, the author argues that it is Boyle, not Hume, who ought properly to be termed a sceptical realist. Keywords: Boyle; Clarke; England; Hume; Locke; natural theology; scepticism
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