Hume’s Theory of Knowledge and Emotivism

Posted on Oct 27, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

Hume’s Theory of Knowledge

Human Knowledge

Hume’s strategy for analyzing knowledge involved:

  • Identifying the elements shaping our understanding of reality.
  • Exploring how these elements combine to produce complex knowledge.
  • Determining the boundaries of secure and reliable knowledge.

Elements of Knowledge

All knowledge originates from perceptions:

  • Impressions: Direct sensory experiences (sensations, passions, and emotions).
  • Ideas: Memories or reflections of past impressions.

Key differences between impressions and ideas:

  • Vivacity: Impressions are more vivid and detailed than ideas.
  • Order: Impressions always precede ideas.

Hume’s Principles of Human Nature

  • All simple ideas derive from corresponding impressions.
  • To validate an idea, trace it back to its originating impression.

Modes of Knowledge

  • Knowledge of Relations of Ideas: Independent of experience, discoverable through reason (e.g., mathematics).
  • Knowledge of Matters of Fact: Based on experience, verifiable through observation.

Critique of Causality

Hume argues that the only evidence for matters of fact is the relationship between cause and effect, which is not a relation of ideas but based on experience.

Three factors create the link between cause and effect:

  • Spatial contiguity
  • Temporal succession
  • Necessary connection (which Hume challenges)

Hume’s Third Principle of Human Nature

  • Observing a constant connection between events creates a habit.
  • Custom, or habit, is the basis for believing the future will resemble the past.
  • This belief leads to the conviction that observed connections will continue.

This irrational feeling creates blind faith in the regularity of nature.

Hume’s Emotivism in Moral Philosophy

Hume’s moral theory is integral to his project of developing a science of human nature. He argues that reason cannot be the foundation of morality.

Reason vs. Sentiment

  • Theoretical Philosophy: Concerns “being” and uses reason.
  • Practical Philosophy (Ethics): Concerns “ought” and relies on sentiment.

Hume believes that moral rationalism mistakenly conflates these two domains.

Moral Sentiments

Hume argues that moral judgments stem from pleasure or pain associated with actions. Passions, not reason, drive moral conscience. Reason’s role is limited to assisting passions.

Moral Pleasure and Pain

Hume distinguishes moral pleasure and pain from other types. Moral pleasure and pain are selfless and linked to empathy, which Hume considers inherent to human nature.