The Philosophy of Hume

The Philosophy of David Hume (1711-1776)

Introduction

• David Hume is known as a radical empiricist and skeptic due to his focus on experience and skepticism toward metaphysical ideas like 'substance,' 'God,' 'causality,' and 'self.'

• Hume's empiricism is rooted in the principle that ideas are derived from prior impressions: "no impression, no idea."

• Hume's critique of causality examines whether the components of causality correspond to actual impressions.

Hume’s Theory of Impressions

Impressions

• Defined as vivid and lively perceptions, sensations, or feelings.

• Generated spontaneously when our senses are triggered, often by unknown causes.

• Can be simple (single perceptions) or complex (clusters of perceptions).

• Impressions are perceptions (including feelings) that arise spontaneously.

• Impressions are more forceful and vivid than ideas, which are merely pale copies.

• Simple impressions are perceptions from the five senses, like the color of a cloudless sky.

• Complex impressions are combinations of perceptions, such as the various sensations of our surroundings.

Ideas

• Ideas are reflections of impressions (recollection, imagining, thinking).

• Ideas work out impressions.

• Ideas can be simple (derived from simple impressions) or complex (composed of other ideas).

• Ideas are less forceful and vivid than impressions; they are pale copies of impressions.

• Thinking about something, like an event from yesterday, involves ideas.

• Simple ideas are copies of simple impressions, such as the idea of 'blue' derived from seeing the sky.

• Complex ideas are composed of other ideas based ultimately on impressions.

The Copy Principle

• Hume uses the principle that ideas must derive from prior impressions to challenge metaphysics.

• Ideas of substance, cause, or God, central to metaphysical theories of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, do not correspond to direct, vivid impressions.

• The question posed is: what do concepts like cause or substance actually look like in terms of direct experience?

• Such ideas are considered fraudulent and should be discarded as sophistry and illusion.

• The copy principle, or empirical prejudice, asserts that ideas are copies of impressions.

Hume’s Fork

• Hume divides meaningful propositions into two types:

  • Analytic Propositions: Express relations of ideas.

    • Known a priori (independently of experience).

    • Their truth depends on the definition of ideas.

    • Necessarily true or necessarily false; denial leads to contradiction.

    • Example: Mathematical propositions like 2 = 2 or the sum of angles in a triangle being 180 degrees.

  • Synthetic Propositions: Express matters of fact.

    • Known a posteriori (from experience).

    • Their truth depends on correspondence with experience.

    • Contingently true or false; denial does not necessarily involve a contradiction.

    • Example: 'The book is on the desk.'

Hume’s Critique of Causality

• Hume defines causality as “an object followed by another… where if the first object had not been, the second had never existed.”

• The statement