PHIL1003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Dodgy, A Priori And A Posteriori, Solipsism
Hume and induction
• Overview of Hume on knowledge
o Like Locke and Berkeley, Hume (1711-76), an empiricist, adopted
idea-ism, the view that all we immediately acquainted with are
our own ideas he called them impressions – ideas are
remembered impressions)
o But unlike them, Hume did not think that we were reasonably
entitled to know anything beyond the existence of impressions and
ideas
▪ The existence of the external world, other minds, God, and
even our own self were not rationally explained
o Was Hume a solipsist & sceptic?
▪ Philosophically, he thought that solipsism was the only
rational position. There are nothing but impressions and
ideas
▪ Yet casting his as a solipsist an sceptic misses what is truly
original about his position (Musgrave)
o Hume thought that we were compelled, by our nature, to believe in
external world, self, induction – contrary to where philosophy
leads us!
o Arguably, he was not interested in engaging in a battle with the
sceptics. He was interested in a theory of human nature; how we
come to believe the things we do, despite the lack of rational
evidence.
▪ Musgrave calls this irrationalism … The Greeks thought
that man was by nature a rational animal – Hume thought
that man was by nature an irrational animal 17
o Skepticism and solipsism are the most rational positions
▪ But our nature compels us to be irrational
o (umes most famous argument is his skepticism about induction –
a principle on which scientific inquiry relies – and, indeed, which
makes sense of how we act in daily life
▪ We assume the ground will continue to hold as we walk, we
assume the sun will rise tomorrow, we assume our next
forkful of food will continue to be the same food as the last
forkful
▪ We assume that science provides us with better powers of
prediction than the crystal ball
▪ For Hume, such assumptions are entirely unfounded
• These beliefs are not rational at all – yet our nature
makes it such that we cannot help but be irrational
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