Humanity and Theology in Hume’s Religious Dialogues

Abstract

Hume’s philosophy of common life is an attractive approach to achieving human knowledge and a plausible ground for the gentle, humane virtues. Oriented by our “mixed kind of life” and aware of the depths that lay beyond reason, philosophy submits to reasonable, universal, permanent, and irresistible presuppositions from common life. Awareness of human limits cultivates a spirit of modesty and humility in scientific inquirers and a spirit of gentle humanity in social relations. Emphasis on the non-rational, non-scientific elements of human nature distances Hume from his Enlightenment forbearers who vainly sought a scientific explanation for everything in an effort to disprove, overcome, or outflank Christian orthodoxy. The last chapter ended with questions about whether Hume is not in deeper agreement with Enlightenment thinkers on the issues of why human beings turn to God (the psychology of religion) and whether human beings inhabit a disenchanted world (where no miracles happen). These questions implicate Hume’s philosophy of common life at its core by raising the unavoidable, embarrassing question of what counts as a deliverance of common life. Hume’s philosophy of common life is not “nonfoundational” if it takes a (secretly dogmatic) position on controversial, “pre-rational” issues such as history, miracles, or the psychology of religion.