Empiricist response: Hume on the impossibility of a necessary being

Question 1

Question: According to Hume, what is the problem with attempting to demonstrate a matter of fact a priori?

Answer 1

Answer: Hume argues that it is absurd to prove a matter of fact using a priori arguments.

Question 2

Question: What does Hume claim about the concept of necessary existence?

Answer 2

Answer: Hume claims that the words “necessary existence” have no meaning.

Question 3

Question: What concept does Hume’s argument reference?

Answer 3

Answer: Hume’s argument references “Hume’s fork.”

Question 4

Question: What does Hume’s fork suggest?

Answer 4

Answer: Hume’s fork suggests a distinction between analytic knowledge (true by definition) and synthetic knowledge (true by the way the world is).

Question 5

Question: According to Hume’s fork, what type of reasoning can only tell us about the relations between ideas?

Answer 5

Answer: A priori reasoning can only tell us about the relations between ideas, according to Hume’s fork.

Question 6

Question: What type of reasoning can only tell us about matters of fact?

Answer 6

Answer: A posteriori reasoning can only tell us about matters of fact, according to Hume’s fork.

Question 7

Question: Why does Hume argue that a being’s existence cannot be established through logic?

Answer 7

Answer: Hume argues that logical truth is disconnected from factual truth, so a being’s existence cannot be established through logic.

Question 8

Question: What is one reason why the ontological argument fails, according to Hume?

Answer 8

Answer: The ontological argument fails because it attempts to establish a matter of fact (God’s existence) through a priori reasoning.

Question 9

Question: What does Hume suggest about the disconnect between logical truth and factual truth?

Answer 9

Answer: Hume suggests that there is a disconnect between logical truth and factual truth.

Question 10

Question: What concept does Hume argue is incoherent?

Answer 10

Answer: Hume argues that the concept of something necessarily existing is incoherent.

Question 11

Question: What does Hume’s argument imply about necessary existence?

Answer 11

Answer: Hume’s argument implies that the concept of necessary existence lacks meaning.

Question 12

Question: What type of knowledge is true by definition, according to Hume’s fork?

Answer 12

Answer: Analytic knowledge is true by definition, according to Hume’s fork.

Question 13

Question: What type of knowledge is true by the way the world is, according to Hume’s fork?

Answer 13

Answer: Synthetic knowledge is true by the way the world is, according to Hume’s fork.

Question 14

Question: How does Hume’s argument impact the ontological argument?

Answer 14

Answer: Hume’s argument undermines the ontological argument by challenging its reliance on a priori reasoning to establish God’s existence.

Question 15

Question: What does Hume’s fork suggest about the nature of truth?

Answer 15

Answer: Hume’s fork suggests that there is a distinction between truths based on definitions and truths based on empirical evidence.