OMSC/ MIDWIFERY PHILOSOPHY OF MAN Submitted by: CHARLOTTE S. FRANCISCO

◦ Born  7 May 1711 Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh  Died  25 August 1776 (aged 65) Edinburgh, Scotland  Era  18th-century philosophy 18th-century philosophy  Region  Western Philosophy  School School  Scottish Enlightenment;Naturalism, Skepticism,Empiricism, Utilitarianism,Classica l liberalism Scottish EnlightenmentNaturalismSkepticismEmpiricismUtilitarianismClassica l liberalism  Main interests  Epistemology, Metaphysics,Philosophy of Mind, Ethics,Political Philosophy,Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion, Classical Economics EpistemologyMetaphysicsPhilosophy of MindEthicsPolitical PhilosophyAestheticsPhilosophy of ReligionClassical Economics  Notable ideas  Problem of causation, Bundle theory, Induction, Problem of causationBundle theoryInduction

contribution

In a revolutionary step in the history of philosophy, Hume rejected the basic idea of causation, maintaining that “reason can never show us the connexion of one object with another, tho' aided by experience, and the observation of their conjunction in all past instances. When the mind, therefore, passes from the idea or impression of one object to the idea or belief of another, it is not determined by reason, but by certain principles, which associate together the ideas of these objects and unite them in the imagination.” Hume's rejection of causation implies a rejection of scientific laws, which are based on the general premise that one event necessarily causes another and predictably always will. According to Hume's philosophy, therefore, knowledge of matters of fact is impossible, although as a practical matter he freely acknowledged that people had to think in terms of cause and effect, and had to assume the validity of their perceptions, or they would go mad. He also admitted the possibility of knowledge of the relationships among ideas, such as the relationships of numbers in mathematics. Hume's skeptical approach also denied the existence both of the spiritual substance postulated by Berkeley and of Locke's “material substance.” Going further, Hume denied the existence of the individual self, maintaining that because people do not have a constant perception of themselves as distinct entities, they “are nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions.”

Hume's contributions to economic theory, which influenced the Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith and later economists, included his belief that wealth depends not on money but on commodities and his recognition of the effect of social conditions on economics.

B EST QUOTATION OF DAVID HUME Belief is nothing but a more vivid, lively, forcible, firm, steady conception of an object, than what the imagination alone is ever able to attain.

THANK YOU