Comparing The Existence Of God By David Hume And Karl Marx

Where does religion come from? Many have tried to answer this question, only leaving us with more questions than answers. This essay will focus on two philosophers David Hume and Karl Marx both has strong critiques on the existence of God. Both going against the design argument, the design argument is the argument for the existence of God or single creator; however, with Hume’s empiricist and Marx's atheist they both attack the design argument in different ways, ultimately coming to the same conclusion and that is there is no God.

Fist we must understand what the design argument is based on? It is based on intelligent order simply the theory claiming the universe is designed in order to prove that it is the work of a designer in this case

There are three principal characters in the Dialogues. A character named Cleanthes defends an a posteriori design argument for God’s existence. Next, a character named Demea defends an a priori casual argument for God’s existence. Philo is a skeptic who argues against both a posteriori and a priori proofs. Hume in the dialogue states “Whatever exists must have a cause or reason of its existence; it being absolutely impossible for anything to produce itself, or to be the cause of its own existence” (Dialogues, Part IX). Hume's also wrote “Natural History of Science” which touched on a different aspect of religion. Hume argues that polytheism, and not monotheism, was the original religion of primitive humans. Monotheism, he believes, was only a later development. Hume's establishes that polytheism is the origin of religion based on facts provided by ancient history and that the concept of religion was created through fear of not knowing as he

Hume's in many ways is similar to Karl Marx. Marx's feels that religion is a opium for the mind saying that it misleads our judgment, forcing us into believing something that does not exist. Similar to David Hume's argument, that man cannot believe in God through divine inspiration which is based solely on faith and not facts. Karl Marx believed the concept of “God” as the objectification of man's own essential qualities, and thus religion as a means of alienating man from his true nature. Essentially giving God credit for all the good and no credit to man. However, Marx's has this theory of self-alienation with respect to religion stating “Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and also the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless condition. It is the opium of the people” (Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right). One must remember that Marx recognizes religion as a secondary problem stemming of the social economy. Marx claims religions affect the poor mostly, since economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them that this