View source for David Hume - Wikipedia View source for David Hume ← David Hume Jump to navigation Jump to search You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons: Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by Jon Kolbert (meta.wikimedia.org). The reason given is Open Proxy: Webhost: Contact stewards if you are affected . Start of block: 20:12, 23 July 2019 Expiry of block: 20:12, 23 January 2022 Your current IP address is 40.76.139.33 and the blocked range is 40.76.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki or send an email to the stewards OTRS queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details. You are currently unable to edit Wikipedia due to a block affecting your IP address. This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages. Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. See below if you do not believe you have done anything wrong. Editing from 40.76.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪SQL‬ for the following reason(s): The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia. You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN. We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in. If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption. If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: {{unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~}}. You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider. Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator. This block has been set to expire: 16:25, 2 June 2023. Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page and email other editors and administrators. For information on how to proceed, first see the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful. Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked You can view and copy the source of this page: ====Design argument==== One of the traditional topics of [[natural theology]] is that of the [[existence of God]], and one of the ''[[a posteriori]]'' arguments for this is the ''argument from design'' or the [[teleological argument]]. The argument is that the existence of God can be proved by the design that is obvious in the complexity of the world, which ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' states is "the most popular," because it is:[[#{{harvid|RE}}|RE]]{{unreliable source?|date=April 2015}}
…the most accessible of the theistic arguments…which identifies evidences of design in nature, inferring from them a divine designer.… The fact that the universe as a whole is a coherent and efficiently functioning system likewise, in this view, indicates a divine intelligence behind it.
In ''[[An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding]]'', Hume wrote that the design argument seems to depend upon our experience, and its proponents "always suppose the universe, an effect quite singular and unparalleled, to be the proof of a Deity, a cause no less singular and unparalleled."{{sfn|Hume|1777|p=148}} Philosopher Louise E. Loeb (2010) notes that Hume is saying that only experience and observation can be our guide to making inferences about the conjunction between events. However, according to Hume:{{sfn|Loeb|2010|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6ECxW_2tAf0C&pg=PA118&dq=companion+hume+observe+neither+God+nor+other+universes&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Z0OMVMfjJob1UvykgLAN&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=companion%20hume%20observe%20neither%20God%20nor%20other%20universes&f=false p. 118]}}
We observe neither God nor other universes, and hence no conjunction involving them. There is no observed conjunction to ground an inference either to extended objects or to God, as unobserved causes.
Hume also criticised the argument in his ''[[Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion]]'' (1779). In this, he suggested that, even if the world is a more or less smoothly functioning system, this may only be a result of the "chance permutations of particles falling into a temporary or permanent self-sustaining order, which thus has the appearance of design."{{unreliable source?|date=April 2015}} A century later, the idea of order without design was rendered more plausible by Charles Darwin's discovery that the adaptations of the forms of life result from the [[natural selection]] of inherited characteristics.{{unreliable source?|date=April 2015}} For philosopher James D. Madden, it is "Hume, rivaled only by Darwin, [who] has done the most to undermine in principle our confidence in arguments from design among all figures in the Western intellectual tradition."{{sfn|Madden|2005|loc= [https://books.google.com/books?id=UKSZeRnuyjAC&pg=PA150&dq=teleological+god+hume+darwin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FvrIU4uBMYOu7AaV1oGQCw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=teleological%20god%20hume%20darwin&f=false p. 150, emphasis removed.]}} Finally, Hume discussed a version of the [[anthropic principle]], which is the idea that theories of the universe are constrained by the need to allow for man's existence in it as an observer. Hume has his sceptical mouthpiece Philo suggest that there may have been many worlds, produced by an incompetent designer, whom he called a "stupid mechanic". In his ''Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion'', Hume wrote:{{sfn|Hume|1779|p=167}}
Many worlds might have been botched and bungled throughout an eternity, ere this system was struck out: much labour lost: many fruitless trials made: and a slow, but continued improvement carried on during infinite ages in the art of world-making.
American philosopher [[Daniel Dennett]] has suggested that this mechanical explanation of teleology, although "obviously ... an amusing philosophical fantasy", anticipated the notion of natural selection, the 'continued improvement' being like "any Darwinian selection algorithm."{{sfn|Dennett|2009|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i1tNI9646Q4C&pg=PA620&dq=hume++anthropic+principle&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4zXKU_nGCqaw7Aa-w4GAAg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=hume%20%20anthropic%20principle&f=false pp. 620–621]}} Return to David Hume. Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume" Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Page information Wikidata item Languages Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement