Punishment, without any proper end or purpose, is inconsistent with our ideas of goodness and justice; and no end can be served by it after the whole… - David Hume

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Punishment, without any proper end or purpose, is inconsistent with our ideas of goodness and justice; and no end can be served by it after the whole scene is closed. Punishment, according to our conception, should bear some proportion to the offence. Why then eternal punishment for the temporary offences of so frail a creature as man? Can any one approve of Alexander's rage, who intended to exterminate a whole nation, because they had seized his favorite horse, Bucephalus? Heaven and hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad. But the greatest part of mankind float betwixt vice and virtue.

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About David Hume

David Hume (7 May 1711, N.S. [April 26, O.S.] – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist.

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Alternative Names: David Home Hume
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Additional quotes by David Hume

It is an absurdity to believe that the Deity has human passions, and one of the lowest of human passions, a restless appetite for applause

In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view; and wherever disputes arise, either in philosophy or common life, concerning the bounds of duty, the question cannot, by any means, be decided with greater certainty, than by ascertaining, on any side, the true interests of mankind. If any false opinion, embraced from appearances, has been found to prevail; as soon as farther experience and sounder reasoning have given us juster notions of human affairs, we retract our first sentiment, and adjust anew the boundaries of moral good and evil.

"(On belief in miracles) - "The gazing populace receive greedily, without examination, whatever soothes superstition and promotes wonder.

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