Colloque

L’argument du dessein: de la religion à l’histoire naturelle de l’ordre politique

Renato Lessa

Membre a labase

Renato Lessa

Résumé du colloque

From a philosophical point of view, human suffering can be taken as one possible ground for an argument against the idea of divine providence. At the same time, from the perspective of ordinary folks, the very experience of human suffering constitutes the basic strength of the belief in divine providence. The aim of the paper is to explore some possible connections between Hume´s reflections about religion and design and his suppositions about social and political history. The final purpose of the paper is to try to integrate the recognition of the pervasiveness of ordinary beliefs in design with a philosophy of history deeply opposed to any idea of a general and comprehensive design, as a necessary ordering mechanism for human accomplishments. The point of departure of this attempt will be a discussion of Hume´s reflections on design and attitudes toward religious beliefs, as they were presented in his "Dialogues".