Work · Empiricism, Enlightenment & Liberalism
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
A critique of the design argument.
Introduction
Hume drafted the Dialogues in the early 1750s and revised them until shortly before his death in 1776, but friends advised against publication; they appeared in 1779, arranged by his nephew. Three characters debate: Cleanthes defends the argument from design, which infers a divine maker from the order of nature; Demea defends orthodox faith and an a priori proof; and the sceptic Philo raises objections, among them the problem of evil. The young Pamphilus reports the conversation. Whose voice is Hume’s own, and how to read Philo’s partial concession in the last part, are much discussed questions.
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