HUME'S FRAGMENT ON EVIL AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO UNDERSTANDING HUME'S PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Abstract

In 1993, the National Library of Scotland acquired a manuscript found in a collection owned by Martha More. Soon after, M. A. Stewart published the manuscript, titling it ‘An Early Fragment on Evil’ (hereafter ‘Fragment’). Curiously, since its publication, the Fragment has received little sustained attention by scholars. In the secondary literature, apart from M. A. Stewart’s introduction to the Fragment, references to the Fragment tend to be scarce, and only parts of the Fragment are cited at any time, often as a mere cross-reference for discussions on the Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. This thesis aims to correct the lack of scholarship on the Fragment by discussing it's arguments, structure, and implications for our understanding of Hume's philosophy of religion.