David Hume's Argument For The Existence Of God

Words: 588

Pages: 3

Open Document

God is the creator, ruler and sustainer of the universe, a supreme being who has supernatural powers, worshipped as holy, sacred and divine; but does he exist? The existence of God has been subject to questioning for thousands of years dating back to the early philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, starting the discussion. The existence of God was once never denied His existence was shown in divine miracles and holy faith. However, with the advancement of modern science, the nature of God’s existence began to be increasingly challenged as society developed and now reaching its peak in today’s 21st century. His existence, which was once unquestionable, has become the most disputed philosophical arguments. Arguments of a gods existence revolves around …show more content…
David Hume was a Scottish Philosopher born in the 18th century. Hume became a huge contributor to the fields of scepticism and empiricism. Hume was against rationalism as he believed passion rather than reason make a person’s actions as well as arguing against innate ideas. Hume’s beliefs meant that he believed that there was no divine power governing his actions, nor was the concept of God known at birth, showing Hume’s atheist ideals which began to question the existence of God. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy states that Hume "wrote forcefully and incisively on almost every central question in the philosophy of religion." Which shows Hume’s ideas doubting the existence of God, which is shown through his arguments. One of Hume’s most important premises is The Universe of the Orderly stating that the work is far from being perfect, with things like death, suffering and pain. Which raises the question, why would a God with supreme power and compassion allow this. Hume states that there is no order in the universe, which would mean that there is no supreme being which rules over us as well as a God not existing, as if God had supreme

Essay Berkeley's and Hume's Philosophy About God

Berkeley's and Hume's Philosophy about God When people think about empiricists, they usually discuss views of great philosophers such as George Berkeley and David Hume. Empiricists believe that all knowledge comes from the senses. Rationalists, on the other hand, believe that we can gain knowledge through the inspection of innate ideas. Although Berkeley and Hume are both empiricists, they still have different opinions about the existence of God. Berkeley's philosophy uses God as the central figure…

Words 1569 - Pages 7

Paley's Teleological Argument

successfully proves the existence of God, or some kind of intelligent designer of the natural world that we call God, is very probable with the teleological argument. The debate over the existence of God involves many arguments and counter arguments. These arguments include the cosmological, ontological, and teleological argument for the existence of God. The main argument against the existence of God is the theistic problem of evil. I will consider, but ultimately reject David Hume's argument of the theistic…

Words 1279 - Pages 6

David Hume God And Evil Essay

A Perfect God in a World with Evil? The orthodox theist defines God as an all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful being (Rauhut 186). An all-knowing God would be aware of all the evil and all the suffering taking place in this world. An all-powerful God would have the capacity to do something to prevent this evil and this suffering. Finally, an all-good God would have the want and the will to prevent all that evil and suffering and do something about it("Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy" ).This…

Words 1560 - Pages 7

long essay

Will Messham Criticisms of the analogical argument. The design argument is the simplest, most straightforward argument for the existence of God. The design argument in a nutshell is that the fact that everything in nature seems to be put together in just the right manner suggests that an intelligent designer was responsible for its creation, Kant a critic of the design argument recognized both its simplicity and its importance. He wrote, "This proof always…

Words 937 - Pages 4

Teleological Argument Analysis

powerful, and all knowing God. In this case, the evil and suffering that does exist in the world is heavily questioned. The problem of evil is that if there is an all powerful God, why can he not control the suffering people he loves endures. If there is an all knowing God, why does he not stop the evil and suffering. In David Hume’s Dialogues of Natural Religion, he uses the problem of evil to argue God’s moral nature. Hume says that if there is an all righteous and perfect God, then why is their evil…

Words 850 - Pages 4

Essay on Does God Exist?

whether or not God exists. This is the very question that has grasped the imagination of humanity since the birth of reason, and the same question that has plagued scientists and philosophers without coming close to an accepted conclusion. God is a word that means different things to different people. The definition for God, according to most monotheistic religions is the creator and ruler…

Words 1981 - Pages 8

Essay about Religious vs Science

Religion or Science Kristine Le PHI 208 Dr. Kate Andrew March 01, 2013 Religion or Science Philosopher and historian David Hume was considered as a deist, aside from being an empiricist and someone who usually supported the theory of evolution. Even if Hume believed that God created the universe, he did not think that God was further involved in anything beyond creation. This was especially true in how he formulated his moral theory wherein he claimed that man was inherently…

Words 4426 - Pages 18

Essay on Explain the Key Ideas of the Design Argument

a) Explain the key ideas of the design argument Intro – The Design argument tries to prove the existence of God by saying that because different aspects of our universe are so perfectly able to fulfil functions and seem to have their own purpose they must have been the cause of design. As the Universe is so complex, beyond anything that a human could have created, it must have been designed by a designer of much greater intelligence, God. In relation to this, Richard Swinburne, a modern theistic…

Words 1549 - Pages 7

David Hume Research Paper

The eighteenth-century empiricist, David Hume, rejects the concept of cause and effect by arguing that there is no evidence or knowledge that any particular thing causes another thing to occur. Philosophy: The Power of Ideas explains that Hume believes that, because of human nature, humans tend to believe that things have causes. Moreover, Hume theorizes that humans assume cause and effect based on perceptions and associations. For instance, if event A repeatedly occurs and is repeatedly followed…

Words 495 - Pages 2

Leibniz and the Problem of Evil Essay

relates to God. The discussion on evil and its relations to us is not an easy one though. It is commonly called the problem of evil. The problem of evil in contemporary philosophy is generally regarded as an argument for atheism. The atheist contends that God and evil are incompatible, and given that evil clearly exists, God cannot exist. The problem is generally used to disprove God’s existence by showing an inconsistency between an all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing God; and the existence of evil…

Words 3707 - Pages 15