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In Hume’s “Enquiry Concerning Human Nature,” he seeks to bring insight to the masses regarding the absurdity of religious belief. Hume uncovers a lack of evidence associated with fervent religious belief and contends that wise individuals have the sense to separate themselves from partaking in this passionate faith. The foundation that Hume’s argument rests upon is that no causal relationship can be inferred from one experience to another. Mankind can only predict the future with a degree of certainty based on past experiences, although they can never be absolutely sure that X will always follow Y, even if in the past this has been the case.
Subsequently, Hume’s argument focuses on human testimony and the hesitation that mankind feels regarding the credibility of others’ statements. He states that this hesitation stems from the “…Opposition of contrary Testimony; from the Character or Number of the Witnesses; from the Manner of their delivering their Testimony; or from the Union of all these Circumstances.” The testimony from human beings is therefore not accepted by the rest of the population as free from doubt or questioning.
Additionally, Hume speaks of miraculous events recorded throughout history and shows that there is no acceptable reason to believe in these miracles because they are never witnessed by a vast number of credible men, or do they still occur in present day society. He states that “Men should lye in all Ages,” which means that ignorant men have fantasized about miraculous events and have told them to a willing public. The public embraces anything that soothes their superstitious beliefs, and will therefore be extremely willing to accept the fantastical stories as truth. Hume discredits this argument by saying that sufficient opposition to the miracles is realizing the impossibility that such an event could occur in nature. Hume also adds to his argument by saying that nothing can be relegated to the “Laws of Nature” unless it has been repeated many times throughout nature. This statement goes against miracles, which are the foundation of religion, because they have not held up under natural laws, and therefore, the population is being deluded into religious belief from pious individuals in society.
Hume utilizes intelligence as his method of persuasion; he speaks as if every learned individual will ultimately accept his ideas as correct and attempt to persuade the rest of the population to shy away from religion. With regard to reason, Hume does not agree with Enlightenment thinkers, although he was initially influenced by the writings of John Locke, and disagrees that a relationship between cause and effect can be inferred through the use of reason. The ideas espoused by Hume were extremely controversial at the time of publication, although his proposed ideas are still looked upon in an unfavorable light. Many religious individuals justify their beliefs with arguments opposed by Hume throughout his writings. His comments regarding religion fail to be seen favorably by a public that believes fervently in their religion, yet has no way to prove their faith.
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