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DAVID HUME
By Olivia, Alex, and Colleen
KEY IDEAS
Custom as our Guide
Inductive Reasoning
Hume’s Fork
BIOGRAPHY
o 1711-1776o Attended University of
Edinburgh at age 12o Worked himself into a
nervous breakdown by the age of 18
o Moved to a little town in France to philosophize
o Wrote many books, several of them historical
KEY BELIEF #1:INDUCTIVE REASONING
Humans have a tendency to observe an unchanging pattern
and assume that it will continue in that fashion forever
For example, we notice the sky getting dark every night and
the sun setting, and so we infer that it will do the same
tomorrow.
In reality, we have no true way of knowing that the future will
conform to the past and no reason to believe that just because
things have always been one way, they will continue to do so
INDUCTIVE REASONING
This kind of reasoning where we infer one thing
from another is called ‘inductive reasoning’
It is one of Hume’s most prominent theories
Related to ‘causation’, the concept of always
seeing one thing follow another and concluding that • A) They are connected (A causes B)• B) Will always react the same way (A will always
cause B)
HUME VS. DESCARTES
Hume was an atheist and believed in no high power
whatsoever, whereas Descartes worked hard to prove that God
existed, and if not his God, then an evil but omniscient and
omnipotent demon
Hume believes that there is no innate knowledge, that all
knowledge is derived from experience, whereas Descartes
believes the opposite
Both accept that the ‘self’ is the basis of philosophical
reflection (they disagree on what the ‘self’ is capable of doing)
E P I S T E M O L O G I C A L S C H O O L :E M P I R I C I S T
The theory of Empiricism suggests and defines the
primary source from which we retain knowledge
to be “sensory experience”.
David Hume has been characterized as an
Empiricist philosopher as many of his prime
theories and ideas revolve around the concept that
experience is the key to understanding what we
know and how we come to know it.
KEY IDEA #2 CUSTOM IS OUR GUIDE
One of David Hume’s key theories is known as ‘Custom is
Our Guide’
This concept can be defined and broken down into three
ideas:
1. Custom allows us to conceive that the future will conform
to the past.
2. Belief arises directly and only through custom.
3. Custom determines the standards of our future
judgments.
KEY ARGUMENTS AND EXAMPLES BREAKDOWN
1. David Hume theorizes that custom allows us to perceive that the future will
conform accordingly to the past through experience and learning to understand
the common, and in many cases certain, outcomes associated with certain
actions.
- Billiard Ball Example
2. David Hume suggests that belief formulates solely off the basis of custom
because only through conceiving can we begin believe or determine an
impending outcome of a particular action or circumstance.
- Billiard Ball Belief Example
3. He goes onto suggest that custom determines our future judgments far
more than reason does or can.
- Body to Mind Example
DESCARTES READINGS RESPONSE
1. First Mediation – Overlap - The idea that the senses are directly connected to forming a reality are seen in both David Hume’s reading and Descartes first mediation. - The concept of conceiving are brought up in both as well.
2. Second Mediation – Disagree - In his second mediation, Descartes goes about trying to understand the nature of the human mind by disregarding the knowledge he is given by his memory whereas David Hume suggests that the key to understanding what we know and how we know it is relying on the memory and past experiences/sensations to guide us.
3. Third Mediation – Overlap and Agree - Notes that sensory perception is a valid source of knowledge. - Identifies the connection between conceiving and believing.
CONTRIBUTION TO PHILOSOPHY ANALYSIS
David Hume’s biggest contributions to Philosophy
and the Epistemological school of Empiricism
include:
His skepticism concerning the basis of cause
and effect – A groundbreaking new inquiry about a
theory that had been wildly accepted and left
unquestioned.
A DEEPER LOOK AT THE BLANK SLATE
Built on Locke’s idea of the blank slate
Perceptions = emotions, feelings etc.
Divides perceptions into two categories
Impressions and ideas
IMPRESSIONS
Sensory data
Taken and accumulated by the mind
The root of all ideas
“admit of no controversy”- Hume
IDEAS
Fainter representations of impressions
A reflection of something already seen
Derived from impressions
No innate ideas
JUDGING THE TRUTH
A system for understanding the world around
Does it contain matters of fact?
Does the statement relate to other ideas?
If neither, the statement is meaningless
DEMONSTRATIVE STATEMENTS
True or false prior to experience
E.G. 2+2=4
You know that this is true without experience
A Priori
PROBABLE STATEMENTS
Only true or false after experience
E.G. the sun rising and setting
You need to see it to know it’s true
A Posteriori
A RESPONSE TO DESCARTES
The fork was a direct response to Descartes
Disproves the wax example
Descartes: nothing exists without ideas
Hume: nothing exists without impressions
DREAMS
Descartes: dreams can feel as real as reality
Hume: Only a fainter representation
Dreams are all based on impressions
No ideas stand on their own
SEEING TO BELIEVE
Hume’s argument is atheist
Contradicts Descartes view of a supreme being
A Priori only works with logical statements
Disproves automaton example
A KEY BLOW TO RATIONALISM
Went much more in depth
Explained grey areas
Cast a shadow of doubt on all that we know
A MODERN ILLUSTRATION
Put Hume’s fork to the test
Try to think of something unique
Can be linked back to empirical fact
Cannot think outside of experience
CONTINUED…
Inductive reasoning is harder to put to test
Look for opposites in the world around
If you can conceive it, it could happen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ2qjVkMj6s