Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work by the Scottish philosopher David Hume, first published in 1779. Through dialogue, three philosophers named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence. Whether or not these names reference specific philosophers, ancient or otherwise, remains a topic of scholarly dispute. 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).

Hume started writing the "Dialogues" in 1750 but did not complete them until 1776, shortly before his death. They are based partly on Cicero's "De Natura Deorum". The "Dialogues" were published posthumously in 1779, originally with neither the author's nor the publisher's name.

In "The Blind Watchmaker" (1986), evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins discussed his choice to title his book after theologian William Paley's famous statement of the teleological argument, the watchmaker analogy, and noted that Hume's critique of the argument from design as an explanation of design in nature was the initial criticism that would ultimately be answered by Charles Darwin in "On the Origin of Species" (1859). In the second part of the "Dialogues" (1779), the character Philo observes that animal reproduction appears to be more responsible for the intricacies and order of organic bodies rather than intelligent design.
Q5891
philosophical
Concept
Q37160
David Hume
PER
Q190
God
MISC
Q186619
argument
Concept
Q1699404
existence of God
MISC
Q729193
argument from design
UNK
Q1062821
argument from evil
UNK
Q1541
Cicero
PER
Q370414
De Natura Deorum
ORG
Q6645791
published posthumously
UNK
Q477792
The Blind Watchmaker
ORG
Q44461
Richard Dawkins
PER
Q433739
William Paley
PER
Q1854518
watchmaker analogy
UNK
Q1035
Charles Darwin
PER
Q20124
On the Origin of Species
ORG
Q729
animal
Concept
Q11990
reproduction
Concept
Q32831
intricacies and order of organic bodies
UNK
Q172618
intelligent design
Concept
Q965564
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
ORG
1779-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1779
DATE
1750-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1750
DATE
1776-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1776
DATE
1779-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1779
DATE
+1986^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1986
NUMBER
+1859^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1859
NUMBER
+1779^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1779
NUMBER
author
publication date
publication date
field of work
author
author
influenced by
notable work
author