Second, a character
named Balbus voiced an orthodox Stoic view of the gods, and
Balbus's teacher was named Cleanthes. Finally a character named
Velleius presented a third Epicurean view. Cicero himself
introduced and concluded his dialog, declaring Balbus the winner.
In Hume's dialog, too, the narrator declares the orthodox
Cleanthes the winner over the skeptical Philo. For Cicero, the
main issue of the dialog is not so much the existence of the
gods, but the nature of the gods, and whether they intervene.
However, for Hume the existence of God is the most prominent
issue.
PUBLICATION OF THE DIALOGUES. Hume began work on the
Dialogues in about 1751. He apparently revised the manuscript
about 10 years later, and probably again in 1776 prior to his
death. During the last few months of his life, Hume scrambled to
make arrangements for the publication of his manuscript, which
ultimately appeared in print three years later in 1779. For more
than 100 years, the 1779 publication was the basis for other
printed editions of the Dialogues. However, because Hume did not
oversee the 1779 publication, more recent editions return to the
original manuscript, which is in the possession of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh and is currently available on microfilm.
Differences between the 1779 edition and more recent ones are
insignificant, although recent editions contain annotations which
describe the various revisions Hume made to the manuscript.
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