Philosophy of David Hume - Essay Example

Hume wrote a book on the religion known as the “Dialogues concerning Natural Religion”. Following is a piece from that literature:

“an eternal inherent principle of order to the world”

In this piece of the conversation, Hume is arguing on the principle of religion and the ideology propagated by the religious texts and other literature. He says that religion has been propounded as the order to the world. The religious people always based their theory to be the word of God and Hume is questioning the same theory by making a sarcastic point with the effect that all this is a theory in nature and nothing else. The reality is something according to Hume. To this point, Philo says that religion is the ultimate truth in the universe and that those who do not follow religion and despise should be given a punishment so that they understand the importance of religion as well as believe in them.

To this point, Hume says that all this is propaganda by the religious organizations who try to turn people into believing the religion of their choice so as to include a maximum number of people into this theme to make their ideology powerful, but in reality, there is nothing like religion which exists. He goes on to say that there are other means to achieve salvation and self-satisfaction in the world. He says that the human mind is strong enough to find the way on its own and does not need the influence of religion in its life.

He says that through wisdom and knowledge of materialistic things around us we may be able to find the true reason for our survival. He believes in the origin of science and says that the only way to live a happy life is to follow the desires of the human mind rather than following what a religious text says.

Following is the second quote in the essay:

“The principles themselves and their manner of operation are totally unknown”

This is the second quote that shall be analyzed in the essay. In this quote, Hume says that those who came up with the idea of religion themselves do not know how the whole deal with nature started in the first place.

It is a mass agenda with political ambition which has driven the concept of religion in the way it exists in the world as of today. Following is a quotation to explain the point in a better manner:

“This I affirm, from the infirmities of human understanding, to be altogether incomprehensible and unknown to us. The essence of that Supreme Mind, his attributes, the manner of his existence, the very nature of his duration; these, and every particular which regards so divine a Being, are mysterious to men. Finite, weak, and blind creatures, we ought to humble ourselves in his august presence; and, conscious of our frailties, adore in silence his infinite perfections, which eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. They are covered in a deep cloud from human curiosity”

Over here it is explained that Hume does not think that humans are aware of the true picture with respect to God and his origin, and whether or not he exists in the first place. Religion is an outcome of human curiosity, but according to Hume, it is a very weak outcome of such curiosity. He argues on the point that the believers of religion do not want to go that extra mile in search of the truth and it is their quest to attain truth and divinity before anyone else does they have come up with a pseudo divine form of human salvation categorized as religion.