David Hume (1711 - 1776)
David Hume (1711–1776) was a
Scottish philosopher, historian, and essayist who is considered
one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment.
Hume studied at the University of Edinburgh, developed an
interest in philosophy, and spent several years in France, where
he wrote, A Treatise of
Human Nature (1739–1740). Hume argued that human
knowledge is properly based solely on experience and reason, and
that many common beliefs, such as ideas about cause and effect,
arise simply as habits of thought.
Hume emphasized skepticism and careful examination of human
beliefs, and his writings on religion and morality were at that
time considered controversial. His Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding
and An Enquiry
Concerning the Principles of Morals remain
important works in Western philosophy. He also achieved
considerable success as a historian with his six-volume History of England.
His "Essay on Human Understanding" and his posthumous "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" both argue against Paley's Argument from Design. The Dialogues present a conversation between three friends:
- He argued against the induction that the
construction of the Universe, about which we knew nothing,
is necessarily analogous to the construction of a watch,
about which we know a great deal.
- He argued the false equivalence of the Universe
and a Watch, noting that although they might be alike in
some ways, they were not alike in all ways. For example, a
Lion and a Kitten are both Cats, but though a Lion roars, a
Kitten does not. (Note that a cheetah is a cat, but unlike
all other cats does not have retractable claws).
- Unlike a mechanical watch, the Earth is largely
organic, and more like a vegetable, which by
observation requires neither a designer nor a builder to
reach its final growth.
- Even supposing that the Universe does indeed show evidence
of design, it does not follow that the Designer
is the benevolent, personal God of Christianity. He
noted that mechanical contrivances (such as ships) were
typically the work of many people, not necessarily highly
skilled, often developed and (or) built by trial and error,
and undergo successive improvements to design in successive
creations.
- Even granting a Designer, for all we know, our own Universe is only one of many, and may be the first or last efforts of a immature or senile God, and in its imperfections the subject of ridicule by other Gods.