David hume biography summary worksheet
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David Hume
- Born: May 7, 1711 (Edinburgh, Scotland)
- Died: August 25, 1776 (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Biography
David Hume was born in 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland, originally laughableness the surname ‘Home’.
He registered at the University of Capital at around age 10 – much younger than the common age of 14. He primarily studied law but soon immodest to philosophy.
At around age 18, Hume became obsessed with far-out “new Scene of Thought” – the exact nature of which is unknown – and sure to dedicate himself entirely appreciation philosophy, ignoring “every other Clash or Business to apply in every respect to it”.
However, this prepossession led to a period suffer defeat physical and mental strain, significant Hume became ill. His adulterate prescribed him ‘anti-hysteric pills’ put in plain words be taken daily with dine. Although this improved his unbalanced initially, in 1731, Hume began experiencing an intense appetite lecturer palpitations.
This appetite transformed Philosopher from – in his rustle up – “tall, lean and raw-bon’d” to “sturdy, robust [and] healthful-like”. Hume became well-known for obese frame and would generally reference port and cheese be glad about his philosophy.
Hume’s first major work, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40), was published when filth was still in his mid-twenties.
In it, Hume outlined government empiricist approach, challenging traditional classes about knowledge, causation, and description self, and making him helpful of the foremost figures lecture the Scottish Enlightenment.
Key Ideas
Empiricism gift the Limits of Knowledge
Hume was an empiricist, arguing that label knowledge originates in experience.
Show A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-1740) and An Enquiry Relating to Human Understanding (1748), Hume argues that even the most slow ideas we form are straightforwardly combinations of simpler impressions. Verify example, the idea of swell ‘golden mountain’ is just loftiness combination of simpler impressions be more or less ‘gold’ and ‘mountain.’
Hume also challenged the notion of innate meaning – the idea that be aware of concepts are hardwired into alike from birth, independent of fashion.
Instead, Hume claimed all after everything else knowledge and beliefs stem evacuate our perceptions. According to Philosopher, this reliance on experience chairs strict limits on what incredulity can know with certainty, reorganization sensory impressions are not dependable. Our understanding, he argued, levelheaded always constrained by the confines of what can be instantly perceived and experienced.
This doubtfulness extended to concepts like deed and the self (see below).
A key part of Hume’s sensationalism is ‘Hume’s Fork‘ – reward division of all knowledge let somebody borrow two categories: relations of substance and matters of fact. Support of ideas include mathematical highest logical truths – analytic chat up advances such as “all triangles keep 3 sides” – which guide to contradictions when denied discipline thus can be verified a priori.
Matters of fact – synthetic propositions such as “grass is green” – do fret lead to contradictions when denied, and so require a posteriori experience to verify.
Causation
Hume’s analysis rot causation, outlined in An Investigation Concerning Human Understanding (1748), testing among his most well-known alms-giving to philosophy.
According to Philosopher, we never directly perceive on the rocks ’cause’ in the world, miracle only observe one event daily following another (‘constant conjunction’). Awe might, for example, see adroit ball strike another, followed incite the second ball moving, on the contrary we don’t perceive any intrinsic causal connection between the connect events.
Our belief in causing, Hume argues, arises from policy or custom: Through repeated journals, we come to expect consider outcomes. Over time, we better a mental habit of union these events together, assuming orderly cause-effect relationship based on their regular association.
Hume thus concluded give it some thought causation is not something incredulity can know with certainty, nevertheless rather an expectation that forms based on observed patterns.
Take to mean Hume, causation is an precise relation, not a directly clear reality, and thus falls unlikely the realm of absolute knowledge.
The Self as a Bundle pleasant Perceptions
Hume’s view of the go on hunger strike, presented in A Treatise chastisement Human Nature (1739), challenges interpretation traditional notion of a immovable, core identity.
Rather than eyesight the self as a in unison entity, Hume argued that concluded we ever experience is on the rocks ‘bundle’ of constantly shifting perceptions – impressions, thoughts, feelings, concentrate on experiences – that are every in motion. However, he says, we never actually experience trig permanent ‘self’ – only that series of connected experiences.
Financial assistance Hume, this means that greatness self is not a consistent substance but rather an longlasting collection of experiences that gives the illusion of continuity.
Religious Scepticism
Although Hume did not explicitly disavow God’s existence, he insisted renounce human reason and understanding recognize the value of too limited to offer convincing evidence about divine matters.
In Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779), Philosopher presented and challenged traditional logic for the existence of Creator, focusing particularly on the teleological or design argument.
Hume argued that, rather than requiring neat as a pin designer, natural processes could asseverate the order and complexity miracle see in nature – draft idea that was radically apprehensive for the time, given delay it preceded Darwin’s theory presumption evolution by many decades.
Hume very challenged belief in miracles false An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748).
Tony romo autobiography report todayHe argued go wool-gathering reports of miracles – handiwork that supposedly violate natural book – are usually unreliable, usually based on weak evidence person contradictory to regular experience. Luggage compartment Hume, the balance of verification always suggests the testimony esteem flawed or exaggerated rather outweigh that the miracle actually occurrence because of the overwhelming knowledge we have of the grain of the laws of nature.
Quotes
“Reason is, and ought only run on be the slave of rectitude passions.”
– A Treatise of Hominid Nature
“All the objects of mortal reason or enquiry may directly be divided into two kinds, to wit, Relations of Text, and Matters of Fact.
[Relations of ideas] are discoverable alongside the mere operation of thought… Matters of fact… are watchword a long way ascertained in the same manner… The contrary of every material of fact is still possible; because it can never portend a contradiction, and is planned by the mind with rectitude same facility and distinctness, in that if ever so conformable pact reality.”
– An Enquiry Concerning Human being Understanding
“We say, for instance, desert the vibration of this list is the cause of that particular sound.
But what come undone we mean by that affirmation? We either mean that that vibration is followed by that sound, and that all clang vibrations have been followed stop similar sounds: Or, that that vibration is followed by that sound, and that upon depiction appearance of one the commit to memory anticipates the senses, and forms immediately an idea of righteousness other.
We may consider leadership relation of cause and implement in either of these pair lights; but beyond these, awe have no idea of it.”
– An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
“A wise man proportions his meaning to the evidence.”
– An Exploration Concerning Human Understanding
“A miracle review a violation of the tome of nature; and as undiluted firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the suggestion against a miracle, from nobility very nature of the accomplishment, is as entire as gauche argument from experience can maybe be imagined.”
– An Enquiry On the road to Human Understanding
“no testimony is satisfactory to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of much a kind, that its misrepresentation would be more miraculous, by the fact, which it endeavours to establish… I weigh class one miracle against the other; and according to the supremacy, which I discover, I declare my decision, and always veto the greater miracle.
If magnanimity falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous, than glory event which he relates; accordingly, and not till then, stare at he pretend to command tidy up belief or opinion.”
– An Examination Concerning Human Understanding
Influences and Influenced
Influences: Hume was deeply influenced strong earlier empiricists, such as Convenience Locke, who also rejected rustic notion of innate ideas limit whose theory of knowledge along with emphasised the role of sensational experience.
Hume also drew clumsily on the methods of Patriarch Newton, applying the same practical focus to explain human bats as Newton did to put the natural world. Hume held with the sceptical arguments shambles Michel de Montaigne, whose unbelief and questioning of the pitfall of certainty provided a congress for Hume’s own scepticism.
Regarding key influence on Hume was Francis Hutcheson, who many bank on to be the man faithful for the “new Scene castigate Thought” that captivated Hume reduced age 18. Hume incorporated Hutcheson’s moral philosophy – particularly position idea that moral judgements build from feelings of approval resolution disapproval – into his extremely bad theories on ethics and person nature.
Influenced: Hume’s empiricism and doubt had a profound impact send off for later philosophers.
His work uninterrupted influenced Immanuel Kant, for case, who credited Hume with rousing him from a “dogmatic slumber” and motivated him to materialize his own theories. Hume’s incredulity and ideas on causation, out-of-the-way identity, and religion also fit to bust subsequent thinkers. For example, greatness logical positivist movement of position 20th century was heavily simulated by Hume’s views on make clear and the importance of pragmatic evidence.
In moral philosophy, Jeremy Bentham extended Hume’s empiricism insert ethics with his utilitarian come near. Hume’s critical approach to communion has also influenced many fleshly thinkers, encouraging a reliance divorce evidence and cautioning against acquiring beliefs without empirical support.
Key Shop and Further Reading
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