Hume

Question 1

1. Hume’s notion of what counts as a perception.

Answer 1

Perceptions are everything that can be present to the mind, divided into two types: impressions and ideas.

Impressions are vivid, forceful experiences we get from sense perception or internal reflection (e.g., seeing, hearing, feeling emotions).

Ideas are less vivid, fainter versions of impressions (e.g., memories, imaginings).

Question 2

2. A clear understanding that Hume’s interest is in the transitions of thought. Specifically, the transition we make by thinking in terms of cause and effect.
   (So it’s not exactly about causation itself. It’s more about how we think in terms of cause and effect.)

Answer 2

Hume’s interest - how our ideas are connected in cause and effect chains of relationship
- Hume is concerned with how we come to understand and justify causal relationships—such as the belief that one event (the cause) leads to another event (the effect)

Question 3

3. Hume’s fork: that is, the definitions of what are Relations of Ideas and what are Matters of Fact.

Answer 3

► Matters of fact
true propositions that DO accept of contradictions
Involve empirically demonstrable facts
- Discoverable through empirical investigation
Ex: most natural sciences
Truths typically ascertained through the senses or memory

► Relations of ideas
true propositions that do not accept of contradictions
○ Involve intuitive or demonstrative certainty
○ Discoverable by the mere operation of thought
E.g., geometry algebra arithmetic

Question 4

4. The 2 arguments for thinking causal reasoning does not pertain to Relations of Ideas.

Answer 4

1. Hume argues that nothing in the idea of the first ball’s motion logically necessitates the motion of the second ball. We cannot, through reason alone, deduce that the second ball will move just by thinking about the first ball’s motion. The movement of the second ball is not contained in the idea of the first ball’s motion.
   knowledge about causes is never acquired through a priori reasoning, and always comes from our experience of finding that particular objects are constantly associated with one other.
2. causal reasoning is based on experience, not on Relations of Ideas, because we can only know causality through experience, not by deducing it from the nature of things.
   Hume argues that causal inferences are not self-evident; they are based on observing patterns in the world. For instance, no amount of reasoning could tell us in advance that striking a match would produce a flame

Question 5

5. The 2 arguments for thinking causal reasoning does not pertain to Matters of Fact.

Answer 5

1. Causal Connections Are Not Directly Observable
   when we observe events in the world, We only observe the succession of events, not the necessary connection between them. Thus, causal reasoning goes beyond what can be immediately known as a Matter of Fact - it is an inference that the mind imposes on our experience after seeing the same sequence multiple times.
2. Causal Inferences Are Based on Habit, Not Logical Necessity - Our belief in causality is based on custom or habit from past experiences, but this does not provide the same certainty as direct Matters of Fact, since we cannot know with certainty that the future will always resemble the past.

Question 6

6. Hume’s explanation of causal reasoning in terms of habits.

Answer 6

There’s no logical necessity that guarantees that the future will always follow the same patterns as the past, but our minds, conditioned by habit, expect it to.

Premise 1: We observe sequences of events (A followed by B).
Premise 2: We do not observe any necessary connection between A and B (no perception of causal power).
Premise 3: Repeated conjunctions of A and B create an expectation that B will follow A.
Conclusion 1: This expectation is a result of habit or custom, not reason.
Conclusion 2: Inductive reasoning, which predicts future events based on past experiences, also lacks rational justification and is based on habit.
Conclusion 3: Our belief in causality is fundamentally based on psychological habit rather than any logical or observational proof of necessary connections.

Question 7

Perceptions - Ideas and impressions

Answer 7

Perceptions - both thoughts/ideas and impressions are perceptions

*Anything experienced in the mind is a perception 

Thoughts / ideas -
- Fainter and more washed out copies of our impressions
- Memory and imagination may mimic or copy the perceptions of the senses, but they can’t create a perception that has as much force and liveliness as the one they are copying.

Ideas: Fainter, less vivid copies of impressions that lead to weaker or more controlled behavioral responses (e.g., remembering pain but not reacting physically as strongly).

Impressions
* Forceful and vivacious
Force - touching fire and being burnt is a strong force and very vivid

► Behaviour is the key - Impressions: Strong, vivid experiences that cause immediate and powerful behavioral responses (e.g., reacting to heat or pain).