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Another look at Hume's treatment of the argument from design in the Natural History of Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2016

EMILY KELAHAN
EMILY KELAHAN*
Affiliation:
Philosophy Department, Illinois Wesleyan University, P. O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702, USA
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article argues that Hume's seemingly peculiar treatment of the argument from design in his Natural History of Religion is not indicative of a radical, or even modest, shift in his overall epistemic evaluation of it. His focus is on the argument's impact on the psychology of religious believers, and not its rational acceptability. Hume never strays far from his stated intention for the work, to engage in a socio-psychological analysis of the nature of religious belief, including a thorough assessment of the role of the argument from design. Hume concludes that the argument is inconsequential to religious belief formation.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 461 - 474
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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