David Hume Constancy And Coherence Summary

When it comes to Hume’s theories, specifically the principles of ideas, we can evaluate them based on their identities. Out of the three associative principles, “causation is the strongest and the only one that takes us beyond our senses” (Morris and Charlotte). Causation establishes a link between the present and the past and this can be compared to the relation between the cause and effect. Hume tries to show the ways we associate ideas, and the reasons why it’s supposed to stay that way. He doesn’t focus on explaining why we do it this way, he automatically assumes that humans understand this concept.

In the movie 12 Angry Men it showed many examples of Hume’s ideas such as skepticism, pluralism, relativism, and reasonable doubt. First let me explain what skepticism is, skepticism doubts the validation of knowledge or particular subject. Pluralism is the position that there are many different kinds of belief—but not all just as good as any other. Relativism is when the position that each belief is just as good as any other, since all beliefs are viewpoint dependent. Reasonable doubt is lack of proof that prevents a judge or jury to convict a defendant for the charged crime.

Hume counters this argument by saying that there is no way for us to know this. There is no logical truth

Hume argues amongst other things that sensation is our understanding because we can perceive our sensation therefore we cannot understand causation because we cannot perceive through our sensations. All objects of human inquiry are divided into two categories, relations of ideas and matters of fact. Relations of ideas are every affirmation which is either intuitively or demonstratively certain. Matters of fact, we should be vain, therefore, attempt to demonstrate its falsehood. We learn though the nature of evidence which assures in real existence and it is record of our

In a very broad sense, Hume built his theories under the idea that “experience” is the only way one can realize the extent of their knowledge. Today, he is regarded as a preeminent figure of the Enlightenment,

Hume’s response to this is through is character Philo, Philo said that we should not judge the attributes of god on something like Paley proposes. Philo argues that we cannot judge the entirety of the universe on one single part of nature because nature has an infinite number of springs of principle. Also that we cannot base God on our

Hume on the other hand can only confirm what has already happened, being that is the most truthful and logical

Hume is adamant that we are unable, in a single instance, to uncover a power or necessary connection in nature (Hume 1993: 41). For example, although we may experience events, such as one billiard ball impacting another, and the latter moving, we are not provided with anything that suggests a necessary connection (Hume 1993: 41-42). In such cases, we merely infer a casual relationship between the two objects, and it is through repeated experience that the objects are conjoined in our minds, giving rise to inferences about similar future events (Hume 1993: 44-46). For Hume, this is solely the “customary transition of the imagination from one object to its usual attendant” which is “the sentiment or impression from which we form the idea of power or necessary connexion” (Hume 1993: 50). Importantly, although we cannot know necessary connection in the world, nature is typically uniform, and we are accustomed to its regularity.

According to David Hume, is it possible for the assertion “My hand hurts” to be certain and, if so, exactly how and why? According to Hume, this assertion is true through induction. This is true because through sensory perception an individual can feel pain radiating from their hands, but finding the cause of the pain is nonsensical. Hume believed that

David Hume was very skeptical in determining the reality of an external world. He says that our ideas are not really precise as it is only a derivative. They are derivatives of our “impressions” which Hume defines as our direct sensation of the external world. So if I look at the sky, I see the clouds’ having different shapes and sizes. When I try to recall the image, I won’t be able to remember the exact shape and size of the clouds I saw.

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, who was generally identified as a skeptic; doubting many common-sense ideas. He was known for forming a refined version of Locke’s theory, which looked at the differences between impressions and ideas, he mentioned that “impressions are livelier than ideas"(Chapter 10: Theories and Methods of Epistemology, 212-213). Which meant that, individuals would much rather experience something rather than having an idea of the experience. For instance, when making a cup of tea, you have an idea that the tea is hot, but you get the impression that it is after you drinking it. Hume used this refined theory to help him doubt the concept of causality; the cause and effect relationship between 2 events (David Hume: Causation),

According to Hume overall, all of our ideas and “feeble perceptions” are founded by impressions (Hume). Basically, Hume insists that all ideas can be traced back and associated with the root impression that one first had. This passage begins with Hume justifying that the mind can conceive anything that we have not previously seen and explains that nothing is beyond what we can think unless there is a complete contradiction such as a square that is circle- “To form monsters, and join incongruous shapes…costs the imagination no more trouble than to conceive the most natural and familiar objects” (Hume). These ideas are explained to be copies of the impressions we have already experienced, and ideas must proceed from our first impressions of an experience (our senses- what we see, feel, hear, desire, ect.).

According to Hume the mind can create ideas in two ways, through natural relations and through philosophical relations. The “Treatise of Human Nature” explains that Natural relations connects in a way where our imagination naturally follows one another.. The natural relations are contiguity, resemblance, and cause and effect. Cause and effect is the only thing that neglects all of the thoughts, memories, and sensations since we know the results. Which makes it the base of our knowledge in the world according to Hume.

The amount of learning animals are capable of does not allow for the understanding of the mechanics behind the cause leading to the effect. This distinction can be drawn by the example of a recent internet fad; people would get their dogs to chase them into a room and then by hiding would confuse the dogs into thinking they were somewhere else. Learning would cause the initial confusion; the dog has lived there long enough to learn that the door should be the one way in and out, however without the ability to reason the animal would eventually leave to find their owner as opposed to knowing they had to be somewhere in the room. This is similar to how young children can develop an understanding of the world around them but as they start out there is no clear understanding of the world’s influences past the immediate response, as seen with infants when playing peak-a-boo. Thus while the animal can learn, Hume does distinguish that animals cannot reason simply because they are limited to staying at the same level of reason as an infant and simply do not have the capacity to develop

David Hume was an empiricist, he did not believe in innate ideas. His writings were based off of taking Locke’s empiricism a step further, Hume attempts to use the scientific method to study human nature. To expand on this, he thought we are all born Tabula rasa, meaning a blank slate. In acquiring knowledge, or building upon this blank slate, the source of all ideas and concepts come from previous experiences. We have what he refers to as “simple” ideas,” such as the color red or the shape of a circle.