Religion and Reason: David Hume’s Critique of Religion

Research into the dilemma of the natural history of religion poses the question: How do we think of religion from a philosophical and rational perspective, away from its history at the heart of religion itself? As an attempt to answer this problem, this research adopted the vision of the pioneer of modern philosophy, the Empiricist philosopher David Hume, who was one of the greatest critics of religion and metaphysics and one of the leaders of skepticism. Based on this philosophical standpoint, the research addresses a number of relevant issues including the origin of religion. The study further discusses the comparison between monotheism and paganism in terms of historical precedence and the extent of religious tolerance in all religions. The paper discusses also the representation of God in relation to the divine human and its impact on their self-representation and worldview.

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Research into the dilemma of the natural history of religion poses the question: How do we think of religion from a philosophical and rational perspective, away from its history at the heart of religion itself? As an attempt to answer this problem, this research adopted the vision of the pioneer of modern philosophy, the Empiricist philosopher David Hume, who was one of the greatest critics of religion and metaphysics and one of the leaders of skepticism. Based on this philosophical standpoint, the research addresses a number of relevant issues including the origin of religion. The study further discusses the comparison between monotheism and paganism in terms of historical precedence and the extent of religious tolerance in all religions. The paper discusses also the representation of God in relation to the divine human and its impact on their self-representation and worldview.

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