Religion in the South Book

In almost every aspect of his thinking, David Hume was a man ahead of his time. His views on the nature of causality and induction—the foundation of the scientific method—are still relevant, unsolved problems in philosophy. His views on morals, however simple-minded they may seem, do presage the sociobiological explanation of ethical behavior by pointing to an innate sense. His Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion are perhaps more relevant still, as it seems the debate over evolution vs. intelligent design has not yet been laid to rest.

I am not sure how much needs to be said about this work. To begin with, David Hume is an excellent writer—clear, charming, and concise. What's more, he is profound without being pompous, and serious without being stultifying. The reader of these conversations may doubt that they are, in fact, doing cutting-edge philosophy—as this book is so enjoyable and effortless to read—but they are, indeed.

It is too little remarked that, had not Darwin and Einstein lighted upon the principles that explained the organization of the natural world, the argument from design would still be fundamentally flawed. People act is if the question of God’s existence hinged on the accuracy of Darwin’s theory. It does not, and it never has. This is because the argument by design cannot, almost by definition, be verified, and does not have any predictive power.

This is not to say that the questions that these dialogues explore (e.g. the existence and nature of God) have been answered, but that both sides in the debate should be more careful in their arguments. In point of fact, one of the most endearing quality of this work is that Hume leaves the question open, and probes its answer from multiple directions. No careful thinker can honestly say that they are totally certain of the truths of religion. Hume will show you why.