Principal writings on religion : including Dialogues concerning natural religion, and, the natural history of religion

SUMMARY: David Hume is the greatest and also one of the most provocativephilosophers to have written in the English language. No philosopher is moreimportant for his careful, critical, and deeply perceptive examination of thegrounds for belief in divine powers and for his sceptical accounts of the causesand consequences of religious belief, expressed most powerfully in the DialoguesConcerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion.The Dialogues ask if belief in God can be inferred from the nature of theuniverse or whether it is even consistent with what we know about the universe.The Natural History of Religion investigates the origins of belief, and followsits development from harmless polytheism to dogmatic monotheism. Together theyconstitute the most formidable attack upon the rationality of religious beliefever mounted by a philosopher.This edition also includes Section XI of The Enquiry Concerning HumanUnderstanding and a letter concerning the Dialogues, as well as particularlyhelpful critical apparatus and abstracts of the main texts, enabling the readerto locate or relocate key topics. "David Hume is the greatest and also one of the most provocative philosophers to have written in the English language. His sceptical accounts of the causes and consequences of religious belief are expressed most powerfully in the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion."--BOOK JACKET. "The Dialogues ask if belief in God can be inferred from the nature of the universe or whether it is even consistent with what we know about the universe. The Natural History of Religion investigates the origins of belief, and follows its development from harmless polytheism to dogmatic monotheism. Together they constitute the most formidable attack upon the rationality of religious belief ever mounted by a philosopher."--BOOK JACKET. "This edition also includes Section XI of The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and a letter concerning the Dialogues as well as a particularly helpful critical apparatus and abstracts of the main texts."--Jacket David Hume is one of the most provocative philosophers to have written in English. His Dialogues ask if a belief in God can be inferred from what is known of the universe, or whether such a belief is even consistent with such knowledge. The Natural History of Religion investigates the origins of belief, and follows its development from polytheism to dogmatic monotheism. Together, these works constitute the most formidable attack upon religious belief ever mounted by a philosopher. This new edition includes Section XI of The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and a letter by Hume in which he discusses Dialogues . IT is difficult for a man to speak long of himself without vanity: therefore, I shall be short.