1. HUME 1 BEHOLD THE RADICAL EMPIRICIST

2. David Hume 1711-1776 Historian Economist Psychologist Philosopher

3. Hume’s Psychology 1 PERCEPTIONS =DEF any mental content (object) Two sorts of “perceptions”: IDEAS & IMPRESSIONS (219-20) Impressions (lively) [= sensory input] Ideas (dull) [= ideas]

4. Hume’s Psychology 2 MIND (220) i]is empty “tabula rasa” at birth ii) Has “creative power” to do the following to its own ideas: a) compound b) transpose c) augment d) diminish

5. HUME’S PRINCIPLE (220-21) All ideas are derived from impressions by the above 4 processes. Arguments: i) analysis ii) absent experience iii) missing shade of blue SO: Ideas not derived from impressions are “sophistry and illusion”.

6. REASONING (222) [HUME’S LOGIC:] Two sorts: 1. Relations of ideas Explains away the a priori [against Cartesians] 2. Matters of fact Based on cause and effect

7. OUR KNOWLEDGE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT (223-242) THESIS 1 Knowledge of C&E is “based on experience” [a posteriori]. THESIS 2 Our causal conclusions “are not founded on reasoning or any process of understanding” based on our experience. (225)

8. THESIS 1: Argument 1 (222-3) 1. Adam just created [anyone who has no experience of the world] cannot know causal powers of things. SO: 2. Experience required for causal knowledge. SO: 3. Causal knowledge is a posteriori.

9. THESIS 1: Argument 2 (223) 1. Things we do not know by experience are causally unknown as well. SO: 2. Experience is necessary for causal knowledge. SO: 3. Causal knowledge is a posteriori.

10. THESIS 1: Argument 3 1. Effect ≠ Cause (223) SO: 2. Idea of effect is never contained in idea of cause. SO: 3. Analysis of cause reveals nothing about effect. SO:4. Causal relation cannot be known a priori. SO:5. Can be known only a posteriori.

11. THESIS 1: Argument 4 (223-4) 1. Relations of ideas give rise to necessary truths (e.g., 1+2=3). 2. Necessary truths cannot even be conceived to be false. 3. But all causal relations may be conceived to be otherwise. SO: 4. Causal relations are not necessary. SO: 5. They are not relations of ideas. SO: 6. They can only be known a posteriori.