Hume's Critique Of Religion: ‘Sick Men's Dreams’

Abstract

The first three chapters of Hume's Critique of Religion (hereafter HCR) present a useful account of Hume's reputation among his own contemporaries: a description of the various interpretations now on offer among our own contemporaries, a review of the sort of historical considerations that are relevant to a proper grasp of Hume's intentions (especially in relation to religious issues), and a survey of the range and scope of Hume's writings on this subject. This is followed by a chapter devoted to Hume's theory of ideas and another to his scepticism and epistemology, showing how these issues are relevant to problems of religion. The next four chapters take up topics that are generally regarded as Hume's central contributions on this subject. These are his criticisms of the ontological and cosmological arguments, his assessment of the argument from design, his presentation of the problem of evil, and his criticism of the doctrine of miracles. Following these discussions Bailey and O’Brien turn to Hume's natural history of religion, morality and religion, and Hume's historical work as it concerns religion. The book finishes with a discussion of the question of whether Hume was an atheist. Taken together, this is a comprehensive and complete survey of all the main topics and texts. The only possible exception to his is the absence of any extended discussion of the immortality of the soul and the doctrine of a future state—an issue that Hume's contemporaries regarded as essential and fundamental to Christian theology (and about which Hume has important thing to say).