Sarah Jean U
THE VERY SQUASHED VERSION OF...
David Hume, Scottish historian and Journalist. 1711-76
Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding
"It is never possible to deduce judgements of value from matters of fact"
David Hume, Scottish historian and Journalist. 1711-76
Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding
"It is never possible to deduce judgements of value from matters of fact"
"Moral philosophy, or the study of human nature, may be treated in two ways. The simple, popular, philosophy of Man born for action, taste and sentiment; which by appeal to feelings, moulds the heart. Or the Abstruse philosophy of reasoning and speculation- unpopular & tricky but able to diffuse through to the lawyer, soldier and politician.
All our Ideas come from sensory Impressions (well, perhaps except the missing shade of blue). You can't dispute this- give me an idea which hasn't come from an impression? The Idea of a 'golden mountain' comes from impressions of 'gold' and 'mountain' and of "God" from extensions of ourselves.
We associate ideas because of their Resemblance (we see a painting, think of the original), their Contiguity (closeness in time/place) or their perceived cause-and-effect (think of a wound – we cannot avoid thinking of pain). But there is a distinction between relations of ideas and matters of fact- Adam wouldn't have known that water drowns. Stones might go up, or billiard-balls not rebound. We believe things when we hold a vivid, lively, forcible, firm, steady, more intense conception, which may not sound very philosophical- but we agree about the thing. Resemblance livens ideas powerfully, as with the Catholic mummeries. We assume one thing is caused by another just by the habitual assumption that things are often found together- it is not a reliable assumption.
My sceptical friend argues that religion has no part in politics, and therefore the two ought not to be mixed. He misses the point that people do mix the two, no amount of 'ought' is equal to 'is'.
Animals as well as men learn from experience, as when the dog fears the whip. Our Laws are based on punishment - that same effect will have same cause. But 'Cause' is mere constant conjunction, we never really discover anything but one event following another.
There is no such thing as chance in the world, yet nothing is more free than the imagination of man. There are always causes, even if the Power behind them is hidden from us, as with medicines or clouds.
Miracles shouldn't be believed, unless it would be even more miraculous not to believe. All religions with miracles say that 'miracles prove other religions wrong' (which is impossible). If God knows all, then he is the author of all criminality.
There need be no fear that philosophy should undermine our reasonings in common life, but we can be sceptical as to moral or religious results. Check out other philosophy books; Is there abstract reasoning? Is there testability? No? Then it is not philosophy."
All our Ideas come from sensory Impressions (well, perhaps except the missing shade of blue). You can't dispute this- give me an idea which hasn't come from an impression? The Idea of a 'golden mountain' comes from impressions of 'gold' and 'mountain' and of "God" from extensions of ourselves.
We associate ideas because of their Resemblance (we see a painting, think of the original), their Contiguity (closeness in time/place) or their perceived cause-and-effect (think of a wound – we cannot avoid thinking of pain). But there is a distinction between relations of ideas and matters of fact- Adam wouldn't have known that water drowns. Stones might go up, or billiard-balls not rebound. We believe things when we hold a vivid, lively, forcible, firm, steady, more intense conception, which may not sound very philosophical- but we agree about the thing. Resemblance livens ideas powerfully, as with the Catholic mummeries. We assume one thing is caused by another just by the habitual assumption that things are often found together- it is not a reliable assumption.
My sceptical friend argues that religion has no part in politics, and therefore the two ought not to be mixed. He misses the point that people do mix the two, no amount of 'ought' is equal to 'is'.
Animals as well as men learn from experience, as when the dog fears the whip. Our Laws are based on punishment - that same effect will have same cause. But 'Cause' is mere constant conjunction, we never really discover anything but one event following another.
There is no such thing as chance in the world, yet nothing is more free than the imagination of man. There are always causes, even if the Power behind them is hidden from us, as with medicines or clouds.
Miracles shouldn't be believed, unless it would be even more miraculous not to believe. All religions with miracles say that 'miracles prove other religions wrong' (which is impossible). If God knows all, then he is the author of all criminality.
There need be no fear that philosophy should undermine our reasonings in common life, but we can be sceptical as to moral or religious results. Check out other philosophy books; Is there abstract reasoning? Is there testability? No? Then it is not philosophy."
Esta es un resúmen del pensamiento de David Hume respecto a su comprensión de lo que se denomina Moral o "Moral Philosophy"
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