Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-dqfph Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-10T16:00:57.116Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hume and Darwin: Epicurean Systems of Godless Naturalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2025

Ariel Peckel
Ariel Peckel*
Affiliation:
PhD University of Toronto, Independent Researcher, Toronto, Canada
*
Email: ariel.peckel@alumni.utoronto.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Comparative scholarship on David Hume and Charles Darwin narrowly focuses on the irreligious implications of their thought for intelligent design metaphysics. I frame their contributions to a perennial system of godless naturalism, exposited in antiquity by Epicurean philosophy, which is not reducible to intellectual influence but stems from shared commitments to the naturalist horizon of inquiry itself. From Epicurus and Lucretius to Hume and Darwin, this system is rediscovered and progressively refined, advancing at each stage a materialist metaphysics and evolutionary anthropology of morals that, together, obviate the explanatory need for and practical value of God in nature and human conduct.

Résumé

Résumé

Les études comparatives sur David Hume et Charles Darwin se concentrent exclusivement sur les implications irréligieuses de leur pensée pour la métaphysique du dessein intelligent. Je présente leurs contributions à un système pérenne de naturalisme athée, exposé dans l’Antiquité par la philosophie épicurienne, qui ne se réduit pas à une influence intellectuelle, mais découle d’un engagement commun envers l’horizon naturaliste de la recherche elle-même. D’Épicure et Lucrèce à Hume et Darwin, ce système est redécouvert et progressivement affiné, faisant progresser à chaque étape une métaphysique matérialiste et une anthropologie évolutionniste de la morale qui, ensemble, rendent superflus l’explication et la valeur pratique de Dieu dans la nature et la conduite humaine.

Keywords

DarwinEpicurusHumeintelligent designLucretiusnaturalismphilosophy of religion

Information

Type
Article
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , First View , pp. 1 - 20
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Canadian Philosophical Association/Publié par Cambridge University Press au nom de l’Association canadienne de philosophie

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Arnhart, L. (1998). The new Darwinian naturalism in political theory. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 33(3), 369–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.00155 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darwin, C. (1837). Notebook B: B 74, 1837–07 – 1837–10, DAR 121. Cambridge University Library. https://www.amnh.org/research/darwin-manuscripts/catalogue-darwin-manuscripts/cambridge-university-library?darbaseurl=https%3A%2F%2Fdarwin.amnh.org%2Fviewer.php%3Feid%3D73125 Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1844). Letter from Charles Robert Darwin to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker; written at Down, 1844–01–11, GBR/0012/MS DAR 114: 3. Cambridge University Library. https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/752448 Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1856). Letter from Charles Robert Darwin to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker; written at Down, 1856–07–13, GBR/0012/MS DAR 114: 169. Cambridge University Library. https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/752620 Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1879a). Letter no. 12041. Darwin Correspondence Project. https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12041.xml Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1879b). Letter no. 12088. Darwin Correspondence Project. https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12088.xml Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1880). Letter no. 12851. Darwin Correspondence Project. https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12851.xml Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (2001a). The origin of species. In Appleman, P. (Ed.), Darwin: A Norton critical edition (3rd ed., pp. 95–174). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1859.) https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393958492 Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (2001b). The descent of man. In Appleman, P. (Ed.), Darwin: A Norton critical edition (3rd ed., pp. 175–254). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1871.) https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393958492 Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (n.d.). Hume D ‘Enquiry concerning the principles of morals’ 1751: [much of], 1809–01–01–1882–04–30, GBR/0012/MS DAR 80: B117r. Cambridge University Library. https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/745394 Google Scholar
Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin’s dangerous idea: Evolution and the meanings of life. Simon and Schuster Paperbacks.10.1002/j.2326-1951.1995.tb03633.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desmond, A., & Moore, J. (1991). Darwin: The life of a tormented evolutionist. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. https://wwnorton.com/books/Darwin Google Scholar
De Waal, F. (2001). Good natured: The origin of right and wrong in humans and other animals. In Appleman, P. (Ed.), Darwin: A Norton critical edition (3rd ed., pp. 511–517). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1996.) https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393958492 Google Scholar
De Waal, F. (2013). The bonobo and the atheist: In search of humanism among the primates. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.Google Scholar
Harris, J. A. (2015). Hume: An intellectual biography. Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139033220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, D. (1932). The letters of David Hume (2 Volumes, Greig, J. Y. T., Ed.). Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1969). A treatise of human nature (Mossner, E. G., Ed.). Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1988). An enquiry concerning the principles of morals. In Beauchamp, T. L. (Ed.), Moral philosophy (pp. 185–310). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1993a). Dialogues concerning natural religion. In Gaskin, J. C. A. (Ed.), Principal writings on religion including Dialogues and The natural history of religion (pp. 29–130). Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/principal-writings-on-religion-including-dialogues-concerning-natural-religion-and-the-natural-history-of-religion-9780199538324?cc=ca&lang=en& Google Scholar
Hume, D. (1993b). The natural history of religion. In Gaskin, J. C. A. (Ed.), Principal writings on religion including Dialogues and The natural history of religion (pp. 134–193). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (2007a). An enquiry concerning human understanding. In Buckle, S. (Ed.), An enquiry concerning human understanding and other writings (pp. 1–144). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hume, D. (2007b). A letter from a gentleman to his friend in Edinburgh. In Buckle, S. (Ed.), An enquiry concerning human understanding and other writings (pp. 147–162). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808432.018 Google Scholar
Hume, D. (2007c). Of the immortality of the soul. In Buckle, S. (Ed.), An enquiry concerning human understanding and other writings (pp. 190–197). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808432.021 Google Scholar
Huntley, W. B. (1972). David Hume and Charles Darwin. Journal of the History of Ideas, 33(3), 457–470. https://doi.org/10.2307/2709046 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemp, C. (2017). Dewey’s Darwin and Darwin’s Hume. The Pluralist, 12(2), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.5406/pluralist.12.2.0001 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucretius. (1977). On the nature of things (F. O. Copley, Trans.). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. https://wwnorton.com/books/On-the-Nature-of-Things Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (2001). What evolution is. Basic Books. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/ernst-mayr/what-evolution-is/9780465044269/ Google Scholar
Papineau, D. (2020). Naturalism. In Zalta, E. N. & Nodelman, U. (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2023 Ed.). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2023/entries/naturalism/ Google Scholar
Peckel, A. (2024). Hume beyond theism and atheism. Hume Studies, 49(1), 9–33. https://doi.org/10.1353/hms.2024.a924228 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reich, D. (2019). Encounters with Neanderthals. In Reich, D. (Ed.), Who we are and how we got here: Ancient DNA and the new science of the human past (pp. 25–50). Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Reiss, J. (2024). Hume, Darwin, and the “Epicurean hypothesis.” In Williford, K. (Ed.), Hume’s Dialogues concerning natural religion: A philosophical appraisal (1st ed., pp. 253–276). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Humes-Dialogues-Concerning-Natural-Religion-A-Philosophical-Appraisal/Williford/p/book/9781032594286?srsltid=AfmBOoovoy2OLt_RpfTsjpx76PA1_3VGsl6IXBV9t9YoWLRVy9lB78HH Google Scholar
Ridley, M. (2001). The origins of virtue. In Appleman, P. (Ed.), Darwin: A Norton critical edition (3rd ed., pp. 517–524). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1997.) https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393958492 Google Scholar
Russell, P. (2008). The riddle of Hume’s Treatise: Skepticism, naturalism, and irreligion. Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195110333.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar