Religion-Sensitive Morality in the Philosophy of David Hume: An Attempt to Unmask the Relationship between Religion and Morality in the Philosophy of David Hume

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student, Faculty of Persian & Foreign Languages, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Contemporary Hikamh (Wisdom), Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In the ethical view of modern philosophy, there can be seen two aspects of morality; religion-free morality and religion-sensitive morality. Despite the disagreement between his naturalist ambitions and his extreme skeptical principles, Hume’s aspiration to stabilize moral science tends to show that morality is not only independent of religion, but also is destructed by it. The main objective of this paper is to unmask the relationship between religion and morality based on the works of Hume, his critics, and his supporters. The findings of this paper, based on Hume's moderate view of commonsense morality and his undercover belief in God, indicate that morality for Hume is not ultimately independent of religion and God. In other words, Hume reduces the whole religion to a combination of morality and philosophy, defends the morality and rational aspects of religion, and deems other aspects and dimensions as unnecessary. Finally, according to the evidences used in this article, it is better to put Hume in a specific rank of the religion-sensitive moral philosophers.

Keywords

References

  1. ادواردز، پل؛ بورچرت، دونالد ام (1392). دانشنامه فلسفه اخلاق، ترجمۀ ان‌شاء‌الله رحمتی، چ اول، تهران: انتشارات سوفیا.
  2. بکر، لارنس سی (1378). تاریخ فلسفه اخلاق غرب، ترجمۀ گروهی از مترجمان مؤسسۀ آموزشی و پژوهشی امام خمینی، چ اول، قم: انتشارات مؤسسۀ آموزشی و پژوهشی امام خمینی.
  3. سلیمانی آملی، حسین (1387). اعتقادشناسی هیوم، چ اول، تهران: انتشارات زوّار.
  4. شهرآیینی، سید مصطفی؛ پیکانی، جلال؛ لازمی، فریده (1396). رهیافتی به ابعاد ناآشنای نظام فلسفی هیوم در باب تأسیس جهان‌بینی بدون خدا، مجلۀ پژوهشنامۀ فلسفۀ دین (نامۀ حکمت)، دورۀ پانزدهم، شمارۀ یک (پیاپی بیست‌ونه).
  5. مک‌اینتایر، السدر (1379). تاریخچه فلسفه اخلاق، ترجمۀ ان‌شاالله رحمتی. تهران: حکمت.
  6. لازمی، فریده؛ شهرآیینی، سید مصطفی (1395). تحلیل و نقد اعتقاد حداقلی به وجود خدا در نظام فکری و فلسفی هیوم و کانت، کنفرانس بین‌المللی فلسفۀ دین معاصر، تهران.
  7. لازمی، فریده؛ پیکانی، جلال (1396). تحلیلی انگیزه‌شناختی از شکاکیت هیوم و تأثیر آن بر شهرت هیوم به الحاد: کوششی برای رفع اتهام شکاکیت از هیوم، مجلۀ نقدونظر، دورۀ بیست‌وسه، شمارۀ دو (پیاپی نود).
  8. هیوم، دیوید (1395). رساله‌ای درباره طبیعت آدمی، ترجمۀ جلال پیکانی،چ اول، تهران: انتشارات ققنوس.
  9. ــــــــــــ (1397). کاوشی در خصوص فهم بشری، ترجمۀ کاوه لاجوردی، چ چهارم، تهران: انتشارات نشر مرکز.
    1. Andre, Sh. (1993). Was Hume an Atheist. Hume Studies, 19 (1).
    2. Baggini, J. (2009). Hume on Religion:Was Hume An Atheist or An Agnostic?. Published by The Journal of Philosophy.
    3. Ellin, J. (1989). Streminger: Religion a Threat to Morality. Hume Studies, 15 (2), 295 - 300.
    4. Flew, A. (1961). Hume’s Philosophy of Belief. London: Routledge.
    5. Gaskin, J. C. A. (1988). Hume’s Philosophy of Religion. London: Macmillan.
    6. Hendel, C. (1925). Studies in the Philosophy of David Hume. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
    7. Hume, D. (2009). A Treatise of Human Nature. Waiheke Island: The Floating Press.
    8. Hume, D. (1751). An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. London: A. Millar. Retrieved 28 June 2014.via Google Books.
    9. Hume, D. (1751). The Natural History of Religion. in The Philosophical Works, ed. T. H. Green and T. H. Grose.
    10. Hume, D. (1575). The Natural History of Religion. London press.
    11. Hume, D. (1980). Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. edited by Richard. H. Popkin, Indianapolis: Hackett.
    12. James, W. (1896). The Will to Believe, New World.
    13. Laird, J. (1932). Hume’s Philosophy of Human Nature. London: Methuen.
    14. McAteer, J. (2016). How to be a Moral Taste Theorist. Essays in Philosophy, 1 (1).
    15. Mitchell, T. A. (1986). David Hume's Anti-Theistic Views: A Critical Appraisal. University Press of America.
    16. Mossner, E. C. (1947). The Continental Reception of Hume’s Treatise.
    17. Mossner, E. C. (2001). The Life of David Hume. Oxford University Press. First published in 1954, and updated in 1980, it is reissued in 2001.
    18. Myers, T. W. (1996). Religion and morality in the philosophy of David Hume.
    19. Popkin, R. (1985). Hume’s Intentions. In Popkin, The High Road to Pyrrhonism.
    20. Rayner, S. (2005). Hume’s Moral Philosophy. Macalester Journal of Philosophy, 1 (1).
    21. Russell, B. (1947). Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic? A Plea for Tolerance In The Face Of New Dogmas.
    22. Russell, P. (2013). Hume on religion. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
    23. Russell, P. (2008). The Riddle of Hume's Treatise: Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion. New York, NY : Oxford University Press.
    24. Streminger, G. (1989). Religion a Threat to Morality: An Attempt to Throw Some New Light on Hume's Philosophy of Religion. Hume studies 15 (2), 277-293.
Philosophy of Religion
Volume 17, Issue 1
April 2020
Pages 73-93

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics