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Essay Comparing Hume And Candide

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As propagators of using reason and proof to evaluate the world around them, both Hume and Voltaire criticize the ideas that people create to rationalize the observable effects in the world. Their purpose is not to oppose or condemn religion or God, but to bring to light the flawed logic in our efforts of explanation, pointing out the absurdity of certain attempts at explanation as observed in Hume’s An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Voltaire’s Candide. Hume and Voltaire’s criticisms of such are similar in that they attack not religion directly, but the means by which it is justified. Both authors comment on the use of illogical explanations and insufficient reasoning, and the futility of rational speculation in explaining the design …show more content…

In section 10 of An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume argues that it is impossible to rationalize God’s existence with miracles, since we can only proportion our beliefs to the evidence, through “experience and observation” (Hume, p. 578). Even if a great many people testify to the occurrence of a miracle, it does not justify believing in it. Miracles, by definition, do not exist in the common world and is “a violation of the laws of nature” (Hume, p. 579). We should regain our skepticism and treat secondhand testimonies as less reliable than personal experience. People try to rationalize the Christian religion, from miracles to the existence of God where there is no evidence. Hume raises the question: As rational beings, we already do not believe based solely on word of mouth; how then should we be justifying these things by reason when even its first believers believed through testimony? The only evidence there is is in the design of the world; everything else can only be inferred or

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In Dialogues concerning Natural religion Hume explores whether or not faith is rational. as a result of Hume is AN philosopher (i.e. somebody WHO thinks that every one information comes through experience), he thinks that a belief is rational given that it's sufficiently supported by experiential proof. therefore the question is absolutely, is there enough proof within the world to permit North American country to infer AN infinitely sensible, wise, powerful, excellent God? Hume doesn't raise whether or not we are able to rationally prove that God exists, however rather whether or not we are able to rationally return to any conclusions regarding God's nature. He asserts that the primary question is on the far side doubt; the latter is ab initio undecided.

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Hume, in a literary document, wrote about the idea of a miracle, and explains that no such miracle can exist and, linking to religion with miracles, God cannot exist by reason and rationality (Document 2). His explanations involved mechanics employed in philosophy which view religion paradoxical to the new discoveries. Oppositions continued to harass the reputation of

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More importantly, Ward’s examination of the definition of miracles helped me understand the importance of clarity in theological discourse. How can one have a discussion if you don’t even know what you’re discussing? He makes clear how miracles serve as transient disruptions of the natural order, offering glimpses into the divine realm. This emphasis on precision in terminology not only deepens our comprehension of miraculous events, but also highlights their profound theological implications. I also learned the necessity of engaging with skepticism in a rigorous and thoughtful manner from Ward’s thorough exploration of objections to miracles from a variety of perspectives.

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Hume's claim against miracles is that it does not matter how strong the evidence for a miracle it may be it is rather more rational to reject the miracle than to believe in it. Hume states that there are two ways in order to decide to believe a piece of evidence. The reliability of a witness is the first factor. A witness can be dishonest or be ignorant about a situation which would make their claims worth little. So Humes says to take in consideration how reliable the witness is.

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How does Hume use testimony to argue against miracles? David Hume argues that there has never been the kind of testimony on behalf of miracles which would amount to complete proof. He offers four reasons for this claim.

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Though I see why Hume argues a miracle to violate the laws of nature, I believe his explanation does not explain how this does so. Last semester I took a course in Logic, and I think Hume’s argument is technically a fallacy (meaning his argument is unsound). When he states the laws of nature are based upon “a firm and unalterable experience,” is he claiming that the laws of nature are never violated? If he is, then his argument begs the question. (he 's assuming the conclusion of the argument...

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Hume writes: “And experience only teaches us how one event constantly follows another; without instructing us in the secret connexion, which binds them together, and renders them inseparable. ”2 A similar statement was made in Section 4 of the Enquiry when Hume wrote: “It must certainly be allowed, that nature has kept us at a great distance from all her secrets, and has afforded us only the knowledge of a few superficial qualities of objects, while she conceals from us those powers and principles on which the influence of these objects entirely depends”. However, these two sentences, at best, shows that Hume believed that secret connexions are possible, but fails as evidence for the stronger claim that Hume believed secret connexions exist. Furthermore, while Hume explicitly refers to a secret connexion that humans are unable to know about, one does feel that Hume did not personally believe in these “secrets” and “powers”.

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Many of Hume’s objections to the argument may be brushed off by those who are blindly religious and take offense, but many, from the same pool of objections, are simply logical and commonsensical, while some are too rigid. This a posteriori argument for design comes from the desire to make a second case for God. The first was the ontological argument, or cosmological argument, which attempts to use pure reason to

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This essay will explore how Voltaire uses specific evidence from Candide to depict religious extremism and relate it to the Enlightenment idealism of reason and logic, challenging the depiction of a perfect world and highlighting the importance of rational inquiry in contrast to unchecked adherence to religious doctrine. Through its critique of religious extremism, Candide reflects the broader cultural shift towards rational inquiry and empiricism that characterized the Enlightenment era. One outstanding example of religious radicalism in Candide is represented by Pangloss, who proceeds to embrace his idealistic philosophy despite confronting various tragedies. For instance, when Pangloss is contaminated with syphilis and suffers significantly, he still demands that it is the best of all possible diseases, utilizing deductive reasoning to legitimize his condition: "If Columbus had not caught on an island in America this sickness, which poisons the source of generation [...] we should have neither chocolate nor cochineal" (Voltaire,9). Here, Pangloss illustrates his extraordinary adherence to his logic, denying questioning or critically looking at it despite the self-evident

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According to David Hume, is it possible for the assertion “Squares have four sides” to be certain and, if so, exactly how and why? “Squares have four sides” can only be certain through induction. In order for it to be deductive, “squares” would have to be the same as “four sides” and vice versa, which it is not. It is inductive because through sensory perception you can see four lines connected to form the sides of a square.

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The European Enlightenment Project 2015: David Hume David Hume (1711-1776) was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, being born there in 1711 to relatively well-to-do parents, and died there in 1776 at the age of sixty-five. In 1721, at the age of ten, he began down a road largely determined by his family when he enrolled in the University of Edinburgh, and left after three years destined to pursue a career of his own. The next decades saw him developing through his publications a brilliant theory of human nature and the extent of human knowledge.

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Hume’s point that as far as evidence is concerned; it is very improbable that any did occur. But this improbability fluctuates with the evidence, at times get very categorical. In fact considering certain statements in Hume’s text, one would not be wrong to say that historical miracles for him are impossible. The deciding factor in each case of reported miracles is evidence. Yet Hume was not, and would never have been able to examine all the cases of reported miracles and the evidence in their favour, so as to judge conclusively the inadequacy of their forces.

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Hume’s response to this is through is character Philo, Philo said that we should not judge the attributes of god on something like Paley proposes. Philo argues that we cannot judge the entirety of the universe on one single part of nature because nature has an infinite number of springs of principle. Also that we cannot base God on our

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He gives an example on (p.137, §37) and mentions that a man who should find in a desert country the remains of pompous buildings would conclude that the country had, in ancient times have been cultivated by civilized inhabitants, but did nothing of this nature occur to him, he would never form such an inference. After reading what Hume believed in I also think that as we all learn from the events that occurred from the past but one should relate to the current by eliminating part of the past in order to move forward with the knowledge attained. Per Hume he believes that before moving forward that one should have all belief of mater should be derived from objects and presented to the memory and customary between other objects. Thus, a belief is important in placing one’s mind with passion of love. All these are natural occurrences and nobody can prevent them when they occur.

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Hume on the other hand can only confirm what has already happened, being that is the most truthful and logical

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