Negative Impact of God on the Minds of David Hume, Christopher Smart, and William Cowper
David Hume was one of the most influential writers and philosophers of his time. Hume was the second son of Joseph Hume, laird of Ninewells, a small estate in Berwickshire. He was born and raised in Edinburgh, and studied law at Edinburgh University. He left the University without taking a degree with him, however. He spent the next three years living at his fathers, occupying his time primarily with reading and pondering ideas, later to be used in his works. In 1773 Hume traveled to France, making his way to La Fleche on the Loire. He attended Jesuit college while abroad, and was greatly stimulated by history. While in La Fleche, he began his renown A Treatise of Human Understanding. The first two volumes were published in 1739, and the concluding volume in 1740. His work was published anonymously, and subsequently attracted little attention.
While in France, Hume became good friends with a number of well known men. Voltaire, Diderot, and d’Alembert were friends of his that had great influence on his writings and ideas. Several of his works include, The History of Great Britain, and Four Dissertations which contained The Natural History of Religion, Of the Passions, Of Tragedy, and Of the Standard of Taste (Stapleton 1757). Two Essays (1777) contained Of Suicide and Of the Immortality of the Soul.
David Hume explores the issue of what exactly comprises the “self”. Hume states in his Treatise of Human Nature that
...when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch my...
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...Literature. Vol.1. Ed. Rossi, Patricia. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. New York: Copyright 1999. 2655-57.
Hume, David. “A Treatise of Human Nature:The Mind as Theater”. Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol.1. Ed. Rossi, Patricia. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. New York: Copyright 1999. 2644-47.
Hume, David. “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: Of Miracles”. Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol.1. Ed. Rossi, Patricia. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. New York: Copyright 1999. 2647-50.
Jenkins, John. Understanding Hume. Edinburgh University Press. Lanham, Maryland: Copyright 1992.
Smart, Christopher. “Jubilante Agno”. Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol.1. Ed. Rossi, Patricia. Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. New York: Copyright 1999. 2650-53
Dr. Seuss's original fable is a simple story told with a great moral that criticizes the commercialization of Christmas. The original story features an “Ebenezer Scrooge” type creature that lives up the mountains outside "Whoville." The Grinch indulges himself in the annual ritual of spoiling everyone's festivities with a series of nasty pranks. This particular year however he plans to sabotage the holiday season by dressing as Santa Claus, clim...
In explaining Hume’s critique of the belief in miracles, we must first understand the definition of a miracle. The Webster Dictionary defines a miracle as: a supernatural event regarded as to define action, one of the acts worked by Christ which revealed his divinity an extremely remarkable achievement or event, an unexpected piece of luck. Therefore, a miracle is based on one’s perception of past experiences, what everyone sees. It is based on an individuals own reality, and the faith in which he/she believes in, it is based on interior events such as what we are taught, and exterior events, such as what we hear or see first hand. When studying Hume’s view of a miracle, he interprets or defines a miracle as such; a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature, an event which is not normal to most of mankind. Hume explains this point brilliantly when he states, “Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it has ever happened in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man seemingly in good health should die on a sudden.” (Hume p.888) Hume states that this death is quite unusual, however it seemed to happen naturally. He could only define it as a true miracle if this dead man were to come back to life. This would be a miraculous event because such an experience has not yet been commonly observed. In which case, his philosophical view of a miracle would be true. Hume critiques and discredits the belief in a miracle merely because it goes against the laws of nature.
...ng he is in jail for only doing what is right, by trying to achieve what is right through non-violence. The fact that he is in jail is unjust, does not support equality, and does not give them freedom. The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as a way of enforcing what they thought was right through non-violence. King was only doing the same as the Founding Fathers in that he was trying to re-establish Christian themes in the United States through non-violence. Therefore, it is a shame for the United States law to be carried out in this way when it was supposedly founded on much different principles. King is brilliantly portraying how he is being more responsible than the United States. The United States has more freedom than anyone other country. King is trying to make them start having responsibility for it.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Though the true identity has not been determined, it is known that both these sects held women to some value. Archaeologists and ancient manuscript scholars are currently translating more manuscripts and excavating the site of Qumran. In the near future, more information will soon be revealed to uncover this mystery.
2nd ed. of the book. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center -. Web.
In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, the idea of miracles is introduced. Hume’s argument is that there is no rational reason for human beings to believe in miracles, and that it is wrong to have miracles as the building blocks for religion. It is because the general notion of miracles come from the statement of others who claim to have seen them, Hume believes that there is no way to prove that those accounts are accurate, because they were not experienced first-hand. In order to believe a miracle, the evidence should be concrete, and something irrefutable. When there is any sort of doubt to a miracle, Hume says that any evidence that can be contrary to the proof of a miracle is merely evidence that the miracle did not happen, and it should be disproved. The only way a miracle can be proven is from the testimony of the person who had witnessed it, while any evidence against the miracle is something that defies the laws of nature. It falls upon the reputation of the witness to prove whether or not he or she actually observed a miracle, because a miracle can only be plausible when it is more likely than the opposing laws of nature. Hume’s reasoning in favour of miracles being insufficient events are also explanations as to why he believes miracles are not probable. First is the idea that human beings are not honest enough to be able to have possibly witnessed a miracle. Next is that human beings want to believe in the supernatural, and that desire allows us to believe in things that could never happen, simply because it would be wonderful and fantastical if that miracle actually did occur. Thirdly, the people who usually report sightings of a miracle are those who are uncivilized, or unsophisticated, so they ...
David Hume sought out to express his opinion on ethics in which sentiment is seen as the grounding basis for morality. These theories can be seen as a response to the theories proposed by philosophers where they believed reason is considered to be the basis for morality. In this following essay I will show how Hume provides an argument in favor of sentiment being the foundation of our morality, rather than reason. To do this, I will begin to outline Hume’s ethical theories, highlighting his main ideas for grounding morality on sentiment and bring up some possible counterarguments that might potentially weaken this argument.
John Locke was born in 1632 at Wrington, Somersetshire, England. He studied philosophy and the natural sciences at Oxford, and received his doctorate in medicine. Having entered into the graces of Lord Ashley, who later became the Earl of Shaftesbury, Locke held several political offices. Thus he had the opportunity to visit France, where he made the acquaintance of the most representative men of cultur...
In Part II of David Hume’s Dialogues of Natural Religion, Demea remarks that the debate is not about whether or not God exists, but what the essence of God is. (pg.51) Despite this conclusion in Part II, in his introduction to the Dialogues Martin Bell remarks that the question of why something operates the way it does is quite different from the question why do people believe that it operates the way it does. (pg. 11) This question, the question of where a belief originates and is it a valid argument, is much of the debate between Hume’s three characters in the Dialogues. (pg. ***)
Sometimes it is hard to be sure what conclusion to draw from a Humean analysis, and he is easy to misrepresent. This is partly because one argument he is engaged in may raise a number of related issues that he has dealt with elsewhere, and some of his points seem contradictory. My wish is to consider some of the possible readings of David Hume’s critique of causation, as it appears in Section VII of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, “On Necessary Connexion”, and their relation to the propositions of Section II, “Of the Origin of Ideas”, and Section X, “On Miracles”. I will offer criticisms and alternatives to Hume’s account(s) and conclude by picking which interpretation of Section VII best works for Hume, given certain arguments elsewhere in the Enquiry.
Just like Dracula, Santa Claus is based on a real person. Santa Claus' story came from St. Nicholas. “St. Nicholas was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra in Asia Minor (now called Turkey). He was a very rich man because his parents died when he was young and left him a lot of money. He was also a very kind man and had a reputation for helping the poor and giving secret gifts to people who needed it” (Cooper). Santa Claus also gives people gifts to this day. Now his name has changed over generations and in certain countries. “In some countries including parts of Austria and Germany, present giver became the ‘Christkind’... In the early USA his name was ‘Kris Kringle’ (from the Christkind). Later, Dutch settlers in
Abrams, MH, et al. Eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993.
Hume believes that there is no concept of self. That each moment we are a new being since nothing is constant from one moment to the next. There is no continuous “I” that is unchanging from one moment to the next. That self is a bundle of perceptions and emotions there is nothing that forms a self-impression which is essential to have an idea of one self. The mind is made up of a processions of perceptions.
The human digestion system is very complex. It starts with the mouth, salivary glands, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, small intestine, large intestine, then ends/exits with the anus. Each step is essential to the whole system. For example, the mouth chews food and mixes it with saliva produced by the salivary glands, and then the pharynx swallows chewed food mixed with saliva, this is followed by the food traveling through the esophagus to the stomach where the food gets a bath and mixes with acids and enzymes. After the stomach, the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder produce, stores, and releases bile and bicarbonates. Bile is produced in the liver and aids in digestion and absorption of fat while the gallbladder stores bile and releases it into the small intestine when needed. Following the process into the small intestine, this is where nutrients will be absorbed into the blood or lymph (most digestion occurs here). Next is the large intestine this is where water and some vitamins and minerals are absorbed. Finally, it is the end of the road, the anus. At...