32 research outputs found
Neuroaesthetics: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience
This research was supported by Grant AAEE124/09 from the Govern de les Illes Balears, Spain
True Religion and Hume's Practical Atheism
The argument and discussion in this paper begins from the premise that Hume was an atheist who denied the religious or theist hypothesis. However, even if it is agreed that that Hume was an atheist this does not tell us where he stood on the question concerning the value of religion. Some atheists, such as Spinoza, have argued that society needs to maintain and preserve a form of âtrue religionâ, which is required for the support of our ethical life. Others, such as DâHolbach have argued that religion is not only false it is pernicious and it should be eradicated. This paper argues that Hume rejected both theseproposals, on the ground that they rest, in different ways, on excessively optimistic assumptions. The sensible, practical form of atheism that Hume defends has a more modest and realistic aim, which is simply to restrict and limit the most pernicious forms of religion. Understood this way, Humeâs practical atheism is very different from the forms of âoldâ atheism associated with Spinoza and DâHolbach, as well as from the ânew atheismâ of thinkers such as Dawkins and Dennett.
Reprinted in Paul Russell, "Recasting Hume and Early Modern Philosophy: Selected Essays" (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021): 340-383