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Single Idea 21254
[filed under theme 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / a. Cosmological Proof
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Full Idea
The whole chain or succession [of causes and effects], taken together, is not caused by anything, and yet it is evident that it requires a cause or reason, as much as any particular object which begins to exist in time.
Gist of Idea
A chain of events requires a cause for the whole as well as the parts, yet the chain is just a sum of parts
Source
David Hume (Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion [1751], Part 9)
Book Ref
'The Existence of God', ed/tr. Hick,John [Macmillan 1964], p.95
A Reaction
This is such a major and significant idea. With blinkers on we think our questions are answered. Then someone (a philosopher, inevitably) makes you pull back and ask a much wider and more difficult question.
The
25 ideas
from 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion'
6957
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The objects of theological reasoning are too big for our minds
[Hume]
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6959
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We can't assume God's perfections are like our ideas or like human attributes
[Hume]
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6961
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An analogy begins to break down as soon as the two cases differ
[Hume]
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6958
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How can we pronounce on a whole after a brief look at a very small part?
[Hume]
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6960
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Analogy suggests that God has a very great human mind
[Hume]
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6962
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The thing which contains order must be God, so see God where you see order
[Hume]
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6963
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Why would we infer an infinite creator from a finite creation?
[Hume]
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21279
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If the divine cause is proportional to its effects, the effects are finite, so the Deity cannot be infinite
[Hume]
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21280
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From a ship you would judge its creator a genius, not a mere humble workman
[Hume]
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21282
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Design cannot prove a unified Deity. Many men make a city, so why not many gods for a world?
[Hume]
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21281
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This excellent world may be the result of a huge sequence of trial-and-error
[Hume]
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21283
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Humans renew their species sexually. If there are many gods, would they not do the same?
[Hume]
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21284
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This Creator god might be an infant or incompetent or senile
[Hume]
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6965
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The universe may be the result of trial-and-error
[Hume]
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6964
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From our limited view, we cannot tell if the universe is faulty
[Hume]
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6966
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Creation is more like vegetation than human art, so it won't come from reason
[Hume]
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6967
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Order may come from an irrational source as well as a rational one
[Hume]
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21285
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Events are baffling before experience, and obvious after experience
[Hume]
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21286
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Motion often begins in matter, with no sign of a controlling agent
[Hume]
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21287
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The universe could settle into superficial order, without a designer
[Hume]
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21288
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Ideas arise from objects, not vice versa; ideas only influence matter if they are linked
[Hume]
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21256
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A surprise feature of all products of 9 looks like design, but is actually a necessity
[Hume]
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21254
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A chain of events requires a cause for the whole as well as the parts, yet the chain is just a sum of parts
[Hume]
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1435
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If something must be necessary so that something exists rather than nothing, why can't the universe be necessary?
[Hume]
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21255
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No being's non-existence can imply a contradiction, so its existence cannot be proved a priori
[Hume]
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