March 14, Dr. Kraal
Posted on: Feb 18, 2014
Dr. Anders Kraal is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Philosophy, University of Calgary
Title: "Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, and the Question of the Theological Target of Hume's Treatise"
Abstract: In his book The Riddle of Hume's Treatise (2008), Professor Paul Russell argues that underlying Hume's sceptical and naturalistic commitments, in the Treatise and elsewhere, there is a more fundamental irreligious motive: the aim to discredit Christian orthodoxy. But whose "Christian orthodoxy"? In my talk I argue that the principal theological target in Hume's early work is the Arminian theology of early eighteenth-century Anglicanism. I defend this view against the widespread belief that Hume's theological target wasn't Anglicanism but rather the Calvinist theology of early eighteenth-century Scottish Presbyterianism.