Knowledge & Doubt - Hume Analysis Flashcards
1
Q
Strengths
2
A
- Empirical Essence
- Outlined Process
2
Q
Weaknesses
4
A
- Simple vs Complex
- Concepts without impressions
- Forceful & Vivid definition
- Are ideas always less vivid?
3
Q
Copy Principle Weaknesses
2
A
- Absence due to species limitation argument
- Tracing complex ideas
4
Q
MSOB Discussion
4
A
- Application to other gradients
- Universal claim
- Complex idea?
- Hume’s Dismission
5
Q
Strengths:
Empirical Essence
A
The empirical side to his theory of gaining knowledge through experience and rejecting innate ideas fits in with our scientific understanding of the world which is valuable in the sense that we can take his theory to be credible.
6
Q
Strengths:
Outlined Process
A
Hume provides a strong argument to how we gain knowledge with his theory. He achieves this by using examples, although some more outdated than others like a Laplander not knowing the taste of wine in his copy principle, and clearly outlining a process.
7
Q
Weaknesses:
Simple vs Complex Ideas
3
A
- Difficult to tell which ideas are simple and which idea are complex as the line between the two is not always clear.
- E.g. could we imagine green if we had only seen blue and yellow? Green doesn’t look like either of these colours, but in colour theory green is a combination of the two.
- Green is its own colour which would indicate that it is simple but has been made up from two other colours which would indicate that it is complex.
8
Q
Weaknesses:
Simple vs Complex Ideas - Counter Response
3
A
- Philosopher John Hospers provided a counter response to this argument: “This is a minor problem, which just shows the complex ideas you have might depend on who is doing the imagining. It doesn’t make Hume’s theory wrong, he’s just not always clear with his definitions.”
- Good response: Hume not always clear but shouldn’t discredit his entire theory because of this.
- Also, unable to picture a colour in our mind without experiencing it - would need to be in physical form
9
Q
Weaknesses:
Concepts without Impressions
4
A
- We can have concepts for things which have no images, and it is hard to see where the simple ideas would come from. (e.g. ultraviolet, god)
- We have no image of ultraviolet as it is not visible to the human eye, but scientists deal with it all the time.
- Humans have a concept of God without any clear image of it. God has been described as having many qualities, but can we say that this is all God amounts to?
- God not a strong example - different interpretations and beliefs, also outlined by Hume himself
10
Q
Weaknesses:
Forceful & Vivid Definitions
3
A
- There is a lack of clarity in the definitions of forceful and vivid in Hume’s theory. These words may not mean the same for us all, but Hume assumes that we all have the same inherit meaning for these terms.
- Strength: terms are up interpretation, makes theory more personal and allows it to adapt and evolve
- Weakness: theory is less reliable as a concrete and consistent theory on how everyone gains knowledge
11
Q
Weaknesses:
Are ideas always less vivid?
3
A
- Hume claims that ideas are always less forceful and vivid than their impressions, but is this always the case?
- People with PTSD experience hallucinations which feel extremely vivid and real despite not being actual impressions.
- People can have very vivid dreams that may cause them to question if they were real or not upon waking up.
12
Q
Weaknesses:
Are ideas always less vivid? - Counter Response
2
A
- However, Hume counter argues this in his work by saying, “when the mind is out of order because of disease or madness”, meaning in context that his theory only applies to healthy minds which disproves the argument of PTSD induced hallucinations.
- Dreams are incredibly common among people with healthy minds, so Hume’s response cannot disprove entirely argument which is a contradiction on impressions being more vivid and forceful than ideas.
13
Q
Copy Principle Weaknesses:
Absence due to species limitation argument
2
A
- In the third example Hume would say that there are sensations we don’t understand as we don’t share them with other animals. Although, there have been cases where people have adapted themselves due to their own limitations.
- Some blind people have learnt forms of echolocation to be able to navigate properly.
14
Q
Copy Principle Weakness:
Absence due to species limitation argument - Counter Response
A
- This may be true, but this could never be on the same level as how bats would use echolocation.
- The person may have an idea based on their own impression of echolocation usage, but we cannot say this is accurate to how bats would use it so therefore this can’t disprove Hume’s example.
15
Q
Copy Principle Weaknesses:
Tracing complex ideas
6
A
- In his theory it is said that ideas in our minds can be analysed to discover the underlying impression, and if an impression is absent there will be an absence of the corresponding idea. This is a plausible claim for simple ideas, but for complex ideas not so much.
- One person may have the idea of a car from seeing one, but another person may have a complex idea of a car from compounding relevant pieces of one.
- This shows that his absence of relevant experience example does not apply as well to complex ideas.
- Using the Laplander and the wine to demonstrate this, it can be said that it is possible to imagine the taste of wine by tasting other things and being able to create it as a complex idea.
- This comes about because in the Enquiry Hume doesn’t distinguish between simple and complex impressions – when I have an impression of an object, I also seem to be experiencing a set of simpler impressions like shape and colour.
- Distinction made in Treatise, but still poses a problem
