hume

17th and 18th Century Epistemological Debate

• Rationalism

  • Knowledge primarily through reason.

  • Innate ideas present, leading to certainty in knowledge.

  • Key figures: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz.

• Empiricism

  • Knowledge primarily through senses.

  • No innate ideas; knowledge not always certain.

  • Key figures: Locke, Berkeley, Hume.

• Immanuel Kant - Important figure blending rationalism and empiricism.

David Hume (1711-1776)

• Scottish philosopher known for contributions in epistemology and ethics.

• Advocated for empiricism and a skeptical approach.

Perceptions of the Mind

• Impressions:

  • Forceful and lively experiences.

• Ideas:

  • Copies or reflections of impressions.

• Association of Ideas:

  • Concepts linked through resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect.

Objects of Human Inquiry

• Relations of Ideas:

  • A priori knowledge discovered purely by thought.

  • Opposites imply contradictions.

• Matters of Fact:

  • A posteriori knowledge requiring experience.

  • Opposites do not imply contradictions.

Reasoning about Matters of Fact

• Based on Cause and Effect.

• Foundation of Reasoning:

  • Grounded in experience.

• Inferences from Experience:

  • Based on custom or habit.

Ultimate Connection of Causes and Effects

• Hume argues that reason fails to discover ultimate connections.

• Even with experience, extending conclusions beyond observed instances is challenging.

Fiction vs. Belief

• Fiction:

  • A constructed narrative or imaginative story.

• Belief:

  • A feeling based on a pre-established harmony between nature and our ideas.

• Central theme in Hume's skepticism.