Revealed Religion and the Politics of Humanity in Hume's Philosophy of Common Life

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Abstract

Hume's philosophy of common life consists in two moments: philosophic agnosticism about deep irresolvable metaphysical issues and a willingness to assume the common sense of the matter so that philosophy can proceed. This method works so long as he maintains agnosticism in the metaphysical issues as he entertains the common sense assumptions. When Hume turns his attention to revealed religion, however, his common life philosophy breaks down as his anti-transcendent metaphysic contaminates his assumptions; his embrace of humanity as the chief virtue of the modern world illuminates this contamination, as does his suggestion that religious belief might be extinguished in the modern world.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)395-415
Number of pages21
JournalPolity
Volume38
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2006

Keywords

  • Commerce
  • Common life
  • David Hume
  • Humanity
  • Religion
  • Revelation

EGS Disciplines

  • Political Science

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