david hume converted

“Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in

philosophy only ridiculous.”

Moral Sense Theory Aesthetics Bundle Theory of the Self Theory of Knowledge Emotive Theory

Moral Agent The Receiver Moral Spectator

Person who performs the action

Person affected by the condition

Person who observes the event

Holy! I better call the cops!

Where’s my

car?!

I’m gunna steal

this car!

True beauty can be discovered through the five senses

“Taste” – a person’s ability to recognize the aesthetic features of an object

Hume believed that taste is universal

People lack a weak imagination, thus making inaccurate judgments

Subjectivist: the amount of pleasure a work of art arouses in the perceiver

Hume is a subjectivist

Hume believed that some universal qualities of art produce similar judgments in people, who are qualified to make judgments

Consistency and uniformity of the whole

How well the object achieves its purpose

Variety Clarity of conception Accuracy of imitation

Hume believed that the people who were allowed to make judgments, looked for the following:

The self is a bundle or a collection of bits and pieces of experience

Concluded that the self is nothing but a loosely knit collection – a bundle – of perceptions

Argued that there is no permanent "self" that continues over time

Denied that knowledge could be located in the everyday world of the senses

Goal: ideas are a product of sense perception

Divides into two categories: simple and complex

Impressions are more lively ideas like the idea of a city

Believed every idea that humans have, is derived from something

The idea of Causality

Cause-and-Effect relationship

No! My Sandwich!!

!

Cause: You push your sandwich off of a table

Effect: Your sandwich drops to the floor

Ideas of moral facts do not exist Moral claims are nothing but

expressions of feeling or attitude Argued that it is impossible to make

moral choices

Causality – Hume believed that no one can prove that causality exists

People expect the 2nd event to follow the 1st event again

This denied that it proved the existence of a causal connection between the two events also proves that anything cannot be perceived by the senses

“Because something always happened in the past, it does not mean

that it will always happen in the future.”

Ideas were influenced by John Locke & George Berkeley

Hume and Berkeley had different view points between reason and sensation

“Reason and rational judgments are merely

habitual associations of distinct sensations or

experiences.”

Disagreed with Descartes that the mind contained innate ideas

“Innate ideas and principles are placed in the

human mind by a God or an

equivalent being or process.”

NO! YES!

Criticized the idea that we could be certain about anything outside of our

experience

I haven’t climbed a mountain before,

but it looks easy so I’m going to do it!

Rejected the idea of causation rejection of scientific laws, one event causes another, and probably always will

Perceptions are the mind’s general contents

Two kinds of perceptions: ideas and impressions

“Phenomenalism” - knowledge consists of appearances in the mind

“Utility” – the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome

“Ought from Is” - statements of moral obligation cannot simply be deduced from statements of fact

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"David Hume." Answers.com. 2006. Answers Corporation. 17 Nov. 2008 <http://www.answers.com/topic/david-hume>.

Fieser, James. "David Hume (1711-1776) Moral Theory." The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2006. 14 Nov. 2008 <http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/humemora.htm>.

Morris, William E. "David Hume." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 26 Feb. 2001. 13 Nov. 2008 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/#emp>.

Paquette, Paul. Philosophy : Questions and Theories. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Limited, 2002.