Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work written by the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Through dialogue, three fictional characters named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence. While all three agree that a god exists, they differ sharply in opinion on God's nature or attributes and how, or if, humankind can come to knowledge of a deity. In the Dialogues, Hume's characters debate a number of arguments for the existence of God, and arguments whose proponents believe through which we may come to know the nature of God. Such topics debated include the argument from design - for which Hume uses a house - and whether there is more suffering or good in the world (Argument from evil)

Presents four works that are central to the 18th-century Scottish philosopher's campaign against organized religion. The three posthumous essays were probably written at the height of his campaign, but he dropped the project on advice from a friend. The spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are modernized and the speakers of each dialogue are identified with bold type. First published in 1980. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $5.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Hume's brilliant and dispassionate essay "Of Miracles" has been added in this expanded edition of his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which also includes "Of the Immortality of the Soul," "Of Suicide," and Richard Popkin's illuminating Introduction.

Penetrating, ironic, and witty, David Hume's writings on religion scandalized his contemporaries. Ever since Hume, traditional religious doctrines have been intellectually on the defensive. Yet these writings have also provided some materials for conducting the defense, and have raised conceptual problems still unresolved. This volume contains all of Hume's works specifically on religion.

The leading anthology of writings of the modern period, Modern Philosophy provides the key works of seven major philosophers, along with a rich selection of associated texts by other leading thinkers of the period, chosen to deepen the reader's understanding of modern philosophy and its relationship to the natural sciences. Building on the strengths of the first edition, the second edition of Modern Philosophy is enhanced by the addition of the following selections: Montaigne, Apology for Raymond Sebond, "The Senses Are Inadequate”; Newton, Principia, "General Scholium," and Optics, "Query 31”; Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Parts 1-5 and 9-12; Reid, Inquiry Into Human Mind, Conclusion, andEssays on the Intellectual Powers of Man,"Of Judgment,"chap. 2, Of Common Sense

David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, first published in 1779, is one of the most influential works in the philosophy of religion and the most artful instance of philosophical dialogue since the dialogues of Plato. It presents a fictional conversation between a sceptic, an orthodox Christian, and a Newtonian theist concerning evidence for the existence of an intelligent cause of nature based on observable features of the world. This edition presents it together with several of Hume's other, shorter writings about religion, and with brief selections from the work of Pierre Bayle, who influenced both Hume's views on religion and the dialectical style of the Dialogues. The volume is completed by an introduction which sets the Dialogues in its philosophical and historical contexts.

Idealist Alternatives to Materialist Philosophies of Science (ed. Philip MacEwen) makes the case that there are other, and arguably better, ways of understanding science than materialism. Philosophical idealism leads the list of challengers but critical realism and various forms of pluralism are fully articulated as well. To ensure that the incumbent is adequately represented, the volume includes a major defence of materialism/naturalism from Anaxagoras to the present. Contributors include Leslie Armour, John D. Norton, and Fred Wilson with a Foreword by Nicholas Rescher. For anyone interested in whether materialism has a monopoly on science, this volume presents a good case for materialism but a better one for its alternatives.