David Hume

Often called a ”radical empiricist.” Impressions give rise to ideas. Ideas are “less lively” copies of

impressions. There are no ideas but those which

come from impressions. The mind is able to combine ideas in

various ways: Matters of fact Relations of ideas

Two ways to combine ideas: Relations of ideas

Some ideas go together necessarily:

A Triangle is a three sided object.

Matters of fact

Some ideas go together as a matter of observation.

The sun will rise tomorrow.

Matters of fact are based on causality: Three elements of causality:

Temporal succession Spatial proximity Necessary connexion

We cannot have certainty about matters of fact because we cannot be certain about causality. For any given cause we can imagine

many effects but we can’t be certain which ONE effect MUST happen.

Hume used an example with billiard balls to illustrate this.

If all we know is that the cue ball is moving towards the 8-ball and makes contact we can’t be sure what HAS to happen.

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What will happen as a result of the cue ball making contact with the 8 ball?

Did you say that the 8-ball had to move?Why?What if it was fixed to the surface of the table?What if it was 1000 times heavier than the cue ball?There are many possibilities, but nothing we can be certain of.

From what impression do we get the idea of the self?Hume says that the only impressions he has are of various sensations such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain. From this he concludes that the self just is those impressions.