Hume’s Fideism; Towards His Mysticism

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, College of Theology, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran and Lecturer at Azad University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, College of Theology, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Contrary to what has been stated in most accounts that Hume intends to make arguments against the existence of God, he aims to attack the claim that religious propositions can be argued; not completely reject these propositions. He considers these propositions epistemologically outside of human knowledge but ontologically accepts the existence of God. With such a view, we can dismiss atheistic-agnostic interpretations and relate him to a kind of mysticism. The key to deciding whether or not Hume is a mystic is to determine what criteria we have to consider someone a mystic. Two very influential components here are (1)the belief in the existence of God;  (2) the belief that the existence of God is far from our usual reasoning (antirational or irrational).And the second component is enough to call someone like Wittgenstein a fideist. We claim that there is clear evidence of these components in Hume’s works; therefore, what reason do we have to remove Hume from the circle of fideism and mysticism? In this study, after an introduction to the concept and types of fideism, we show that Hume, based on his works, surpasses skepticism and manifests a special kind of fideism.While there is an emphasis on the mystery of the proposition that God exists, he combines Christian faith, in aform that is inseparable from illogical and mysterious propositions such as the incarnation of God. Thus, Hume can be called a Christian mystic.

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References

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Journal of Philosophical Theological Research
Volume 25, Issue 1
March 2023
Pages 29-52

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