Religious Studies Hume: empiricism and the Fork

Religious Studies Empiricism Hume is an empiricist. This means that he thinks all knowledge comes a posteriori via our senses His strict empiricism (and the subsequent Fork) is the key to his views on religion As human beings we can only have knowledge of the world through our senses. Anything that is outside the realm of sensory knowledge must be viewed sceptically.

Religious Studies Hume’s Fork: the key idea Hume divides all the things we know into facts and relations of ideas. “All the objects of human reason and enquiry may naturally be divided into two kinds… Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact”. (Enquiry parag. 20.)

Religious Studies Matters or fact (1) Hume makes two claims about matters of fact. Firstly, matters of fact are all contingent – they could be otherwise. The proof that something is contingent is that its contrary (the opposite of it) is possible: “The contrary of every matter of fact is still possible; because it can never imply a contradiction…” ( Enquiry p. 21)

Religious Studies Matters of fact (2) Secondly, because matters of fact are all contingent, they can never be worked out or discovered a priori. Hence they can only be known through the senses. Question: How might these points affect the arguments for God?

Religious Studies Relation of ideas Hume makes three claims about what he calls Relations of Ideas: They are Mathematical (algebra, geometry and arithmetic). These things are all necessary. These things can all be known a priori. “Propositions of this kind are discoverable by the mere operation of thought, without dependence on what is anywhere existent in the universe.” (Enquiry parag.20) Discuss: How does this affect the ontological argument?

Religious Studies Significance For Hume, all knowledge is either matter of fact (known through the senses) or maths/logic (known a priori). This means that a priori arguments for God fail, as they are purely about concepts and not things that have real existence. A posteriori arguments, such as the cosmological and teleological arguments, are brought into question. It is very difficult to prove them as their conclusions are outside of our direct sensory experience.

Religious Studies Consequences for the college library “When we run over our libraries, persuaded of these principles what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics for instance; let us ask, “Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number?” No. “Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.” (Enquiry parag 132)

Religious Studies Task Some of Hume’s work makes use of the device of dialogue. This is useful as it enables a thinker to fully consider the arguments of his/her opponents and ‘give them a voice’. Read the extracts from Hume’s writing provided on the CD-ROM and write your own dialogue between characters debating the existence of God.