David Hume
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Explore David Hume’s views on death and religious belief in this free course. Understand Enlightenment debates and shifts towards Romantic ideals. Transform centuries-old texts into enjoyable and informative discussions. Examine set readings and gain necessary background information.
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.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
Understand the debates in the late Enlightenment concerning suicide, immortality, the nature of evidence, the existence of God and related topics
Understand some characteristic shifts and continuities in the move from Enlightenment ideals towards Romantic ones
Feel confident that study can transform a centuries-old text into an enjoyable, informative, articulate and reasoned discussion of a familiar topic
Examine set readings and appreciate some of its necessary background information.
