Philosophy: Hume vs. Descartes

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Questions and Answers

Descartes classifies our essence as 'thinking things' and asserts that our knowledge can be derived from pure ______ alone.

reason

Hume believes that understanding ______ is essential to comprehending our thinking as human beings.

people

Hume wanted to undermine the foundations of ______ and eliminate 'bad' metaphysics.

metaphysics

Hume sought an accurate scrutiny of human understanding and the faculties of human ______.

nature Signup and view all the answers

Hume classifies the perceptions of the mind into ideas versus ______.

impressions Signup and view all the answers

Impressions are based on direct experience while ideas are a mental ______.

representation Signup and view all the answers

Impressions have a stronger force because they are felt ______.

firsthand Signup and view all the answers

The origin of all ideas is ______.

impressions Signup and view all the answers

Empiricism states that all knowledge derives from ______.

the senses Signup and view all the answers

Relations of ideas are a priori and are ______ of content.

empty Signup and view all the answers

Matters of fact refer to statements that say something about the ______.

world Signup and view all the answers

Immediate matters of fact involve direct ______ confirmation.

sensory Signup and view all the answers

Reasoning for non-immediate facts is built upon the foundation of ______ and effect.

cause Signup and view all the answers

According to Hume, we can't use ______ to establish cause and effect.

reason Signup and view all the answers

Hume's problem of induction assumes that nature will remain ______.

consistent Signup and view all the answers

The idea that the future will ______ the past is not absolute.

resemble Signup and view all the answers

Assumptions about nature require a belief that there wouldn't be a ______ within nature.

change Signup and view all the answers

If we were purely ______, humanity would cease to exist.

rational Signup and view all the answers

Hume claims that all knowledge is confirmed through ______ data.

empirical Signup and view all the answers

Hume's claims do not support ______.

Metaphysics Signup and view all the answers

Hume believed that without belief in ______, society would not be able to operate.

causality Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Hume vs. Descartes

Descartes defines essence as "thinking things," deriving knowledge solely from reason.
Hume broadens the concept of thinking, linking it to understanding human beings, arguing that thinking isn't separate from us as people.
Hume criticizes Descartes' approach to metaphysics, arguing it's beyond our capabilities and untestable.
Hume's goal is to undermine the foundations of metaphysics.
He aims to accurately scrutinize human understanding, determining the boundaries of human knowledge by understanding our mental geography.
He classifies mental perceptions as impressions and ideas.

Impressions/Ideas

Impressions: represent direct experience, strong, firsthand sensations.
- Examples include strong feelings and direct sensory experience.
Ideas: are mental representations, weaker, like memories; recreations of experiences in the mind.
- Examples include a faded memory and recreations from sensory experiences.

Objects of Reason

Relations of Ideas: concern concepts, like math, and are derived by logic.
Matters of Fact: relate to the empirical world, describing events. Matters of fact are contingent, and experience is their basis. They are based on cause and effect which themselves are not self-evidently true; we learn them through experience. They are more useful than relations of ideas.

Types of Matters of Fact

Immediate: directly experienced; evidence from sensory data.
Non-immediate: no direct sensory confirmation; based on past experience, and the idea that nature is consistent.

Cause and Effect

Hume argues causality isn't based on reason but constant conjunction.
We observe events consistently appearing together, forming our understanding of cause and effect. Reason is not involved in the initial perception.
Hume's argument is about how we gain knowledge of cause and effect. It's based on experience of constant conjunction, not reason.

Problem of Induction

Nature's consistency is assumed by past experience and is a key assumption behind inductive reasoning.
Hume argues we can't prove nature will always behave the same way because future events are not a priori (knowable based on reason/thought alone).
Predicting the future based on past experience is an assumption rather than a reasoned truth.
- Our belief in the uniformity of nature is based on past experience; this is a matter of fact, which is contingent knowledge.

Central Argument

Hume argues that an unprovable causal chain doesn't matter to human existence—we rely on past experiences in order to build our future based on an assumption that the future will be similar to the past.
Our knowledge is based on empirical data, limiting what can be known.
Accepting causality is necessary for human society to exist.
Empiricism, or knowledge gained from experience, is crucial for knowing things in the world.
Metaphysics is unsupported by Hume's approach.

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Description

Explore the philosophical debate between Hume and Descartes regarding the nature of knowledge and human understanding. The quiz delves into Hume's criticism of Descartes' metaphysics and the classification of mental perceptions into impressions and ideas. Test your grasp of these foundational concepts in philosophy.