Hume's challenges and scientific alternatives

Overview

Hume's central objection to the analogy of design, hume's apprentice god objection and hume's plurality of gods objection.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   In which work does Hume present his fullest criticism of these arguments?

   Model answer

   Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, published in 1779.

2. 2

   What is Hume's empirical objection to reasoning about the origin of the universe?

   Model answer

   We have experience of only one universe and never observed its making, so we have no basis for inferring how universes come to be.

3. 3

   Summarise Hume's critique of causation.

   Model answer

   We observe only constant conjunction of events, not a necessary connection, so the idea that every event must have a cause is habit rather than proof.

4. 4

   Why does Hume reject the move from a series of causes to a first cause?

   Model answer

   Explaining each member of a series explains the whole, so demanding a cause of the whole collection is an unnecessary further question.

5. 5

   What is Hume's central objection to the analogy of design?

   Model answer

   The universe is not sufficiently like a machine for the comparison to hold, and a weak analogy yields only a weak conclusion.

6. 6

   Why does Hume say the designer need not be the God of classical theism?

   Model answer

   The evidence would at most support a designer proportionate to the effect, not one who is infinite, wholly good and single.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.