David Hume

Question 1

what is the egocentric predicament ?

Answer 1

The egocentric predicament is a criticism of empiricism and the certainty of the knowledge we gain through experiences. The certainty of experiences are criticised because if we all witness an event , we will have different viewpoints. Therefore how do we arrive at certainty from the experience if we all witness something slightly different.

Question 2

what was Hume’s aims ?

Answer 2

What are beliefs?

Where do beliefs come from?

Question 3

What are perceptions ?

Answer 3

Perceptions are thoughts and feelings. Hume believed perceptions could be split into 2 categories , impressions and ideas.

Question 4

What is an impression and give an example when explaining.

Answer 4

Hume believed Impressions were actually experiencing an event such as burning your hand.

Question 5

Characteristics of an impression?

Answer 5

Impressions are vivid and immediate as they arise from the senses such as the feeling of pain and warmth when burning your hand.

Question 6

What is an idea and give an example when explaining.

Answer 6

An idea is a copy of experiencing an event. For example you would remember burning your hand.

Question 7

Characteristics of an idea ?

Answer 7

ideas are less vivid and immediate when compared to impressions. This is because you are not actually experiencing the warmth of the burn or pain. Therefore it will never be as intense as the actual experience or impression.

Question 8

What are the the two types of impressions Hume identified ?

Answer 8

inward impressions and outward impressions.

Question 9

What is an outward impression and give an example?

Answer 9

An outward impression is something outside of us that provokes a reaction for example a bad smell.

Question 10

what is an inward impression and give an example?

Answer 10

An inward impression is an emotion of feeling within us . For example feeling sad or happy.

Question 11

What is one thing the mind cannot do and give an example?

Answer 11

The mind cannot contradict. So the sentence , the book is red.The book is not red. Our mind cannot imagine this as it is a contradiction.

Question 12

what are the 4 things the mind can do with ideas?

Answer 12

compound
augment
diminish
transpose.

Question 13

What occurs when the mind augments an idea and give an example?

Answer 13

An idea is made bigger for example ‘ a giant mouse’

Question 14

What occurs when the mind diminishes an idea ?

Answer 14

An idea is made smaller . For example ‘ a tiny elephant.’

Question 15

What occurs when the mind compounds an idea ?

Answer 15

This is when the mind takes 2 or more memories and combines them to form a new idea. For example a red dog or golden mountain.

Question 16

What occurs when the mind transposes an idea ?

Answer 16

This is when the mind changes the position of an idea using memories , for example a Dracula , this is a human with bat qualities.

Question 17

What are the 2 kinds of ideas ?

Answer 17

simple ideas and complex ideas.

Question 18

What is a simple idea and the qualities ?

Answer 18

A simple idea is a memory created by an impression. It is a copy of an experience so is less vivid and immediate and therefore it may fade over time.

Question 19

What is a complex idea and the qualities?

Answer 19

A complex idea is made up of one or more simple ideas that have been compound , augmented , diminished or transposed by the imagination. Therefore they may not resemble an actual experience.

Question 20

what is humes belief about ideas and impressions ?

Answer 20

you cannot have an ideas without impressions

Question 21

Give reasons to Hume’s beliefs

Answer 21

Hume believed that knowledge was a posterior , it originated from experience. Every idea must have originated from an experience therefore you cannot have an idea without an experience. For example if a man has been blind his whole life he has no idea of colour. Also a deaf man has no idea of sound.

Question 22

what is the criticisms of Hume’s beliefs and how does he respond ?

Answer 22

Many people believed that Some knowledge could be gained without the senses as it was a priori , it was innate. However Hume completely rejected this idea.

Question 23

what is the missing shade of blue ?

Answer 23

this is a counter example that contradicts his theory completely

Question 24

explain the missing shade of blue ?

Answer 24

This is a counter example , it supposes a man has enjoyed sight all his life and seen every shade of blue except one. When the shades of blue are laid out from darkest to lightest with the missing shade of blue as a gap . Would he be able to imagine the missing shade ?

Question 25

analyse the missing shade of blue ?

Answer 25

Upon analysing this counter example many would believe the man could imagine the missing shade of blue by diminshing the darkest shade and augmenting the lighter shade. This would allow his imagination to ‘supply the deficieny ‘. This contradicts Hume’s theory of no ideas without impressions as this shows someone can have an idea without an impression.

Question 26

how does Hume respond to the missing shade of blue ?

Answer 26

Hume responds by saying it is only a one off case and shouldn’t be taken seriously

Question 27

what is wrong with the way Hume handled it

Answer 27

He shouldn’t have said it was a one off case as this discredits his whole theory as it is based on no ideas without impressions yet this shows this is false.

Question 28

whats humes fork ?

Answer 28

this is when Humes splits knowledge into 2 categories , impressions of ideas and matters of fact.

Question 29

explain relations of ideas ?

Answer 29

this is a priori knowledge that is innate since birth. Block of Marble it is intuitive as it justifies itself. An example is 2+2=4.

Question 30

explain matters of fact?

Answer 30

This is a posteriori knowledge , knowledge gained from the senses and experience. Tabula Rasa. Contingently true as need experience to know. An example is all road signs are circular.

Question 31

Analysis of relations of ideas and matters of fact ?

Answer 31

Hume believed that matters of facts were better than relations of ideas as we could learn more from the world from them.This is because R of I are just definitiond i.e 2=2=4. wheres as matters of fact give us more deeper understanding of the world.

Question 32

criticisms of impressions and ideas ?

Answer 32

Hume believed that ideas are not as vivid as impressions as you aren’t actually experiencing the even you are just recalling it happening.However , there is some mental health issues such as PTSD that can make ideas seem as if they are real and happening.

Another criticism is that impressions are vivid and immediate. However drugs and alcohol can dull our our impressions making them harder to describe as being vivid.

A problem of induction arises. This occurs as impressions and ideas rely on experiences. induction is learning from past experiences that under the same conditions the same thing will happen again. However , this is not always the case , just because something happened one way does not mean it will happen the same way again. due to this it becomes clear that inductive reasoning does not stand up to empirical analysis.

Question 33

what did Hume wonder about cause and effect ?

Answer 33

he wondered what it meant that one thing ‘caused another’

Question 34

Whats the 3 things requires for cause and effect ?

Answer 34

relations in time
relations in space
a connection between one thing and other

Question 35

can all 3 things be observed ?

Answer 35

no the first two can be observed however the last - the connection cannot be empirically observed , it cannot be seen. Therefore no impression

Question 36

How did Hume explain the lack of impressions in cause an effect ?

Answer 36

Hume stated that causality cannot be witnessed , instead habits of thinking occur. This occurs due to us deceiving our world as predictable.Our mind makes a constant conjunction that two things are related and that the pattern will repeat. For example we put our key in the ignition and turn it on. There is a clear witness of relations in time and space. However there is no connection between one thing and another. Instead our mind expect the pattern to repeat.

Question 37

criticisms of C+E

Answer 37

Not all constant conjunctions that occur are accidental . For example some are genuinely caused. For example if you had just eaten a meal and you got food poisoned , it was probably the food that you just ate.

Question 38

why does Hume connect causation in animals and humans ?

Answer 38

Hume believes that our conclusions abut man will be more convincing if they are similar in animals.

Question 39

Do animals learn from induction or reason ?

Answer 39

Animals learn from experience. For example older animals are more agile and have more wisdom at hunting compared to cubs that are clumsy and not as smart. This is because animals learn from experience as they grow older. Animals do not learn from reason as this processs is too slow and uncertain to cope in the wild.

Question 40

criticisms of Hume on animals ?

Answer 40

Hume made the connection between causation in animals and humans. However , can this analogy be strong? Comparing animals and humans has risks as they have plenty of differences such as the way animals think < we cannot know what animals are thinking , this is known as anthropomorphism.