An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
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David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a foundational work in empiricist philosophy. Hume sought to apply the scientific method to the study of human nature, examining the origins and limits of human knowledge.12
He argued that all ideas are derived from sensory experiences, rejecting the notion of innate ideas. Hume distinguished between "matters of fact," which are known through experience and are contingent, and "relations of ideas," which are known through reason and are necessary, like those in mathematics.34
A key concept is the "problem of induction," Hume's argument that there is no rational justification for assuming the future will resemble the past, as this leads to circular reasoning. He also questioned the idea of a necessary connection between cause and effect, suggesting it's based on habit and constant conjunction rather than inherent logical necessity. Hume's skepticism profoundly influenced later philosophers, including Immanuel Kant.52
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free will and moral responsibilityModern compatibilismAs Hume claimed in his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), “By liberty we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will.”
Read MoreAs Hume claimed in his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), “By liberty we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will.”
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epistemologyRelations of ideas and matters of fact…views later, however, and, in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), he put geometry on an equal footing with the other mathematical sciences.
Read More…views later, however, and, in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), he put geometry on an equal footing with the other mathematical sciences.
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