David Hume Research Paper

David Hume was a scottish historian, economist, and perhaps one of the greatest philosophers of his time. His radical on religion, politics, and humanity sent shockwaves through the political and social circles of his time. David Hume was a well-versed political strategist having been assistant to general St. Clair in the conquest of canada, and a member of the British embassy in Paris. David Hume was a naturalist, brushing against certain aspects of christian theology in his works “A Treatise of Human Nature” and “The Natural History of Religion”. David Hume provided new, enlightened ideas influenced by philosophy of the era in which he lived.

David Hume’s views on religion went against the popular christian views he encountered in his time.

He needed to shield his atheistic ideas as both states were hyper-religious, pious, and christian states. Under the Anglican parliament, David had to carefully mold his words. Hume centers his Atheistic argument on Descartes’ widely accepted reasoning behind god’s existence. Descartes states, “our knowledge of the existence of the external world is founded on our knowledge that God exists and that he is not a deceiver.” Hume deduces that since external objects aren't always the direct objects of perception and direct realism, hence illusions and such, god must be a deceiver. As such, if humans are deceived in these natural views, god must be a deceiver. If god exists, we must not be deceived according to Descartes’ reasoning. If humans are deceived, god doesn’t exist in Rene’s religious context. The inductive method in which David approaches leaves us to a conclusion that god doesn’t exist. Later in his works he references a “higher being” not necessarily a god but more of a creator. In the “The Natural

A war with France broke out in 1750 over American territories, the Jacobite risings in 1546, people were not looking for dissenting political opinions. David was attacked for his views on politics in “The History of Britain,” by whigs, tories, etc, mostly on the unbiased ways in which he looked at the detested political models of Charles I and his supporters. However, through these views we can gather an idea of David Hume’s ideas on politics. Hume believes a state is formed by people who have a mutual affinity for each other. Hume believes this mutual affinity is strengthened by the patriotism for one’s country which is naturally obtained through experience. David argues that this connection is only as hardy as the connection the ruler has with his own people, showing that an ideal ruler works for the public benefit. He states in “The Essays Of National Characters, “the vulgar take all national characters to the extremes.” David Hume argues that National characters define the ties between the minds of individuals and the particular society to which they belong, implying that different national characters call for different kinds of governments. For a prosperous state, David implies that the government must change itself to let the population it administers to prosper. Later in his works, he further emphasizes