Exploring Hume’s Philosophy: Key Questions and Concepts

Posted on Nov 24, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

Exploring David Hume’s Philosophy

Life and Context

1. Where was Hume born and where did he die? Edinburgh

2. Between what years did he live? 1711-1776

3. What philosophical current influenced him? British Empiricism

Knowledge and Perception

4. What two kinds of knowledge did Hume distinguish? Knowledge of relationships between ideas and factual knowledge.

5. What term refers to perceptions with sharp, well-defined contours? Impressions

6. What are the three principles of natural association of perceptions? Similarity, spatiotemporal contiguity, and cause-and-effect relationship.

7. What two reasons compel us to assume the existence of an external world? Perceptual constancy and coherence.

13. How are our impressions composed? Through the mind’s association of simple impressions.

14. What type of perception is an intense feeling of cold? A simple impression of sensation.

17. Where do our simple impressions originate? We cannot know for certain, but common sense points to an external, material world.

23. What are the two origins of compound ideas? Association of simplest ideas or weakening of a composite impression.

25. What condition must an idea fulfill to be legitimate from an empiricist standpoint? It must connect directly to a corresponding impression.

26. When is a simple idea not derived from the weakening of a corresponding simple impression? In graduated scales where a missing element can be inferred from context.

38. How does Hume deny knowledge of extended, infinite, and thinking substances? Through the empiricist principle that denies legitimacy to ideas without corresponding impressions.

43. How does Hume define the concept of an idea? A perception or mental image with diffuse and poorly defined contours.

Causality and Induction

10. How does Hume support our causal judgments? Through accumulated experience of regularities, creating an expectation of future occurrences.

19. What does Hume say about knowing the causal connection as a necessary link? It is impossible to know, as we only perceive phenomena.

27. What does Hume think about setting expectations for the future based on past regularities? It is necessary for living, though we can never guarantee their fulfillment.

29. What is induction? Justifying a universal statement from observing specific cases, which Hume argues is never absolute.

40. Why can’t we know if the Earth will explode in five minutes? We have no experience of the future, only reasonable expectations.

Ethics and Morality

8. What is the ethical theory Hume defended? Moral Emotivism

16. Where lies the basis of our moral judgments? In the emotions aroused by actions.

32. What kind of feelings are solidarity and compassion for Hume? Natural feelings, spontaneously arising in humans.

42. What role do feelings of pleasure and displeasure play in moral judgments? They are the basis of our judgments about right and wrong.

49. Why is Humean ethics considered utilitarian? It identifies good with what brings pleasure, socially rather than individually.

50. What does Hume say about Socrates’ ethical consideration? He rejects ethical intellectualism, arguing moral judgments are based on emotions, not rational knowledge.

Self and Substance

20. How does Hume conceive the self? As a bundle of perceptions.

21. What does Hume think about substance as a support for qualities? It is an illusory idea without a corresponding impression.

Mathematics and Science

15. Why is certainty possible in mathematical knowledge? Mathematics deals with relationships between concepts, not the world.

12. What is Hume’s view on the epistemological status of natural science? Reasonable beliefs based on induction, but not absolute certainty.

24. What kind of knowledge is “The whole is greater than the parts” for Hume? Relationships between ideas.

41. What kind of knowledge comes from reasoning, not experience? Relationships between ideas.

Hume’s Works and Influence

9. Which work did Hume say “was already dead from the press”? A Treatise of Human Nature

11. Who said Hume awakened him from his “dogmatic slumber”? Immanuel Kant

28. Which work suggests burning books on metaphysics? An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

33. Which French Enlightenment thinker had a friendship with Hume that ended? Jean-Jacques Rousseau

34. Which English economist sent Hume a copy of The Wealth of Nations? Adam Smith

46. Which French philosopher sent Hume a copy of The Spirit of Laws? Montesquieu

47. Which work is not by Hume? Treatise on Tolerance (by Voltaire)

Empiricism and Skepticism

18. Which English empiricist said the mind is a “tabula rasa” at birth? John Locke

31. What does Hume think about innate ideas? He denies their existence, consistent with empiricism.

35. What is an empiricist philosopher? One who believes experience is the origin and limit of knowledge.

36. What does Hume think about Descartes’ evil genius hypothesis? It cannot be ruled out, but is not the common-sense option.

37. Which Irish empiricist said matter exists and perceptions are rooted in God? George Berkeley

39. What kind of statement is denying a trial of issues of fact? Nuncia quota (likely a transcription error, needs clarification)

44. What kind of skepticism does Hume defend? Moderate skepticism, outlining the limits of human knowledge.