Hume and Natural Religion
Category: Opinionated | 3 Comments | Posted 20:29At the moment, my "loo book" (I always need sth to read on the loo) is dtv Atlas zur Philosophie, a concise philosophy encyclopaedia. So today I came across Hume and his writings on the origins of religion.
David Hume ranks among the most influential philosophers in the field of the philosophy of religion. He criticised the standard proofs for God's existence, traditional notions of God's nature and divine governance, the connection between morality and religion, and the rationality of belief in miracles. He also advanced theories on the origin of popular religious beliefs, grounding such notions in human psychology rather than in rational argument or divine revelation. (source).
Which is pretty much what I think too, and what I argued in my Atheism essay. Feels great to know that great philosophers have thought the same way than I do. *lol*
Now I remember we did Hume at school. We studied (well, we skimmed) his "Treatise of Human Nature". But not a word about his writings on religion. Of course not, they wouldn't want to corrupt us with religion-critical thoughts. Better keep us ignorant and docile.
It makes me so angry, how the fucking clerics in this country indoctrinate people - and I don't think it's that much different in other countries with Catholics or Protestants in influential positions. Let's hold on to power as long as we can. No, I don't think most people believe in God out of choice. They believe because they don't know any better, and because it's a tradition that is instilled in them from such an early age that they can't rid themselves of it.
LOL yes but that is also because people love to hate. They can't when someone (dictator) prevents them from it, but as soon as they get the chance... same in Rwanda and Yougoslavia.
But yes, I agree of course. People don't want to think for themselves. So you could say they deserve what they get. And in a way they do. But it's still frustrating. They are deliberately kept in that state of ignorance.
Posted by: Clarissa at August 29, 2003 09:24 PM"No, I don't think most people believe in God out of choice. They believe because they don't know any better, and because it's a tradition that is instilled in them from such an early age that they can't rid themselves of it."
Pourquoi pas? Si ca leur donne un chemin a suivre, une voie!
....
Yes but if it weren't the clerics, it would be someone else. People just generally like someone else doing the thinking for them. Like in Iraq: now that Saddam, who suppressed his people, has gone, the shiites and sunites butcher each other...
Posted by: valkyrie at August 29, 2003 09:09 PM