Hume’s Critique of Causality: A Deep Dive
Hume’s Critique of Causality
Tests of the Principle of Causality
First Argument & Critique
It is said that everything must have a cause; otherwise, it would exist without prior existence, which is impossible. Hume’s critique: Saying something exists without a cause doesn’t mean it causes itself. It excludes all causes, including the thing itself. The argument wrongly assumes a prior cause always exists.
Second Argument & Critique
It’s argued that an uncaused thing has nothing as a cause, and nothing cannot be a cause. Hume’s critique: If everything needs a cause, then after excluding all causes, we must accept the thing itself or nothing as a cause. But the central question is whether everything must have a cause, not assuming it as a starting point.
Third Argument & Critique
Some believe that cause is inherent in the idea of effect. Hume’s critique: This doesn’t imply all effects have causes. Just as not every woman has a husband, not every man must be married.
The Problem of Causal Relationships
Why We Cannot Accept the Probable Truth of Causal Relationships
Causal relationships aren’t knowledge relating ideas, but knowledge of facts from experience. We can’t claim probable truth because this requires necessary knowledge, which experience cannot provide. Gaining knowledge from experience requires trusting the principle of causality, which relies on prior experience, creating an infinite regress.
Why Causality Isn’t Knowledge of Idea Relationships
This isn’t a truth known intuitively or demonstratively. Cause and effect are distinct, separable ideas; their relationship doesn’t involve logical contradiction. The absence of causal relationships is as inconceivable as their existence.
Objections and Responses
Guest Arguments Against Hume
- From a skeptical position, we cannot establish probable truth; we cannot know our proximity to the truth.
- Experience cannot give probability: observed cases divided by infinite cases approaches zero.
- Assuming the future resembles the past is a priori knowledge, not from experience.
Justifying Expectations
Hume offers no answer to how our expectations based on psychological conviction align with experience. This lack of response spurred further efforts to overcome skepticism, such as Kant’s.
Establishing Causal Relationships
Conditions for Establishing Causal Relationships
These include temporal and spatial contiguity between cause and effect, constant conjunction, and necessary connection.
Hume’s Empiricism
Basic Thesis of Empiricism
Experience is the source of all knowledge; there are no innate ideas.
Humean Empiricism
Experience is also the limit of our knowledge.
Hume’s Theory of Perception
Definition of Perception
Perception is mental content: impressions or ideas. It encompasses sensory experiences, passions, and thoughts.
Vivid Ideas
Ideas are only as vivid as impressions in exceptional circumstances: sleep, fever, madness, or intense emotion.
Originality of ‘Impression’
Hume’s use of ‘impression’ doesn’t refer to how vivid impressions are produced, but to all lively and strong perceptions—feelings, passions, and emotions—appearing initially in the mind.