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