David Hume

This free course, David Hume, examines Hume's reasons for being complacent in the face of death, as these are laid out in his suppressed essay of 1755, 'Of the immortality of the soul'. More generally, it examines some of the shifts in attitude concerning death and religious belief that were taking place in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century, through examination of this and other short essays.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Prelude: Hume's death
• 1 Prelude: Hume's death
• 2 From enlightenment to romanticism
• 2 From enlightenment to romanticism
• 2.1 Working through the section
• 3 The intellectual background
• 3 The intellectual background
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Empiricism
• 3.3 Deism
• 3.4 Proving God's existence
• 4 Hume on life after death
• 4 Hume on life after death
• 4.1 Why was our immortality an issue?
• 4.2 Moral grounds for thinking we are immortal
• 4.3 Physical grounds for thinking we are immortal
• 5 Hume on suicide
• 5 Hume on suicide
• 5.1 The reception of Hume's views
• 5.2 Philosophy, religion and everyday life
• 5.3 Do we have a duty to God not to commit suicide?
• 5.4 Assessing Hume's views
• Conclusion
• References
• Acknowledgements