I am so glad you shared this essay this week. I haven't had the time or motivation to read posts prior to when I joined. This presents some ideas that have rattled around my head many times in a new light
Ben, I am not sure where you come down on the big issue that frames this post, namely whether it makes sense to think about Hume’s arguments outside of the historical context in which he was writing. Take the argument against divine command theory. It is unanswerable once you accept the legitimacy of Socrates’ question. But that question wouldn’t necessarily be one that people could even think at all times. And that isn’t a knock against the rationality of those people since there are plenty of questions that make no sense to us (why should I care about human dignity?)
I am so glad you shared this essay this week. I haven't had the time or motivation to read posts prior to when I joined. This presents some ideas that have rattled around my head many times in a new light
A well documented side effect of Hume is to wake people from their dogmatic slumbers.
Ben, I am not sure where you come down on the big issue that frames this post, namely whether it makes sense to think about Hume’s arguments outside of the historical context in which he was writing. Take the argument against divine command theory. It is unanswerable once you accept the legitimacy of Socrates’ question. But that question wouldn’t necessarily be one that people could even think at all times. And that isn’t a knock against the rationality of those people since there are plenty of questions that make no sense to us (why should I care about human dignity?)