Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

Written by:
Davide Hume
Narrated by:
Leonardo Ramirez

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
1
Narrator
1
Release Date
January 2011
Duration
4 hours 3 minutes
Summary
In Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, philosopher David Hume examines whether belief in God can be rational. The work takes the form of a debate between three characters: Cleanthes, who argues that the existence and nature of God can be empirically verified; Demea, who argues that God is completely beyond human knowledge; and Philo, a philosophical skeptic widely thought to represent Hume's own beliefs.

Much of the debate centers around Cleanthes' presentation of the analogical argument from design. According to this argument, the complexity and beauty of the universe can only be explained by inferring an intelligent designer, in the same way that one would infer a designer if one came across an intricately complicated machine. Philo presents several objections to this argument, with rejoinders by Cleanthes and occasional interjections by Demea. (Summary by Leon Mire)
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Ian Martin

It's a very interesting book for anyone who is considering arguments about intelligent design and natural religion. It's important to remember that this is not a two-sided dialogue and there is really only one person writing and the "debate" turns out the way he wants it to. Some if the arguments against theism are obsolete at this point, like the argument that the Universe might not have ever had a starting point, but it is interesting to see what people where thinking back in the day. It is a fairly good model of intellectual and genteel conversation. It's a very good first step into the subject matter, but not a good finishing point.

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