An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, written by David Hume argues in support of experience as a form of reasoning instead of relying on faith, religion, and “philosophical fantasies” to make sense of things. His work shows that he is skeptical of human understanding and believes that only through personal experience are we able to discover the truth of our existence and make sense of the world around us. He uses direct examples to prove cause and effect and to illustrate how we are unable to understand things without personal experience. The most common examples he uses are math and science. With his examples he also show that relying on faith, religion, and “philosophical fantasies” we are left with no answers. These philosophies also point out that experience can prove the realities of this world such as math and science, but cannot be used to prove abstract ideas such as faith and religion.
Sources:
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Philosophy/History/18thC/?view=usa&ci=9780199266340
http://www.philosophers.co.uk/cafe/phil_nov2000.htm
1 comment:
Reflection upon Hume, as a cause, requires prolific comma use, and reasoning. Hume believes all belief is unprovable, and therefore, unknowable, based on the limitations of human observation, and experience. Based on his own experienced inability, to recall all events leading to effect, Hume claims to know, we can not claim to know, causes, and maintains that the effect of his inability is an event, distinctly different, from an unknown cause. Hume is correct, of course, that some are apt to imagine they could discover these effects, by mere operation of their own reason, without experience, but in vain, their souls pretend to determine any single event, without observation and experience. Incorrect, he is, however, that only reasoning and modest persons, claim to know ultimate causes. This err is known, based on personal experience. The contrary may be argued, but having no like experience, all dissenting opinion is, silenced, unprovable.
Post a Comment