David Hume
7 Hume was a sceptic and many of his theories were based on questioning existing ways of thinking which set him apart from many contemporaries. 2He also deviated from the philosophical norm with his opinions that passion and sentiment were superior to logic: Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.
Who Was Hume?
3Born in 1711, David Hume was raised in Edinburgh and attended the university there at a young age. 4He found nothing to be of interest besides philosophy and he claimed to have an inspiration that led him to this field, though he did not record what exactly that revelation was. SHe spent many years writing his first works before he decided that his life needed a little more scope. 6Unlike other philosophers, he was never a teacher in the subject (or any subject for that matter) and lived his life doing a mix of jobs and surviving as a writer. 7He never married and died in 1776.
Induction and Causation
8Induction is the reasoning we typically use to make assumptions about future or unseen events. 9We tend to assume that behaviour in the natural world will continue as we know it into the future, and whether or not anyone is watching. 10Hume felt that this is not a rational approach because there is no real foundation for such a belief. 11There is no way to reasonably determine whether something will continue happening in an expected manner simply because it has happened up to this point.
12He thought that our natural tendency to this sort of belief is more instinctive than intellectual. 13This is a very suitable explanation as it would be a highly adaptive trait that we are able to see patterns and predict future conditions even though there is no logical or rational reason to do so.
14Another close concept to induction is causation, and again Hume took the sceptic s approach. 1SHis idea was that we cannot truly perceive any causal connection between events, and our tendency to see causality is just an extension of the induction problem just mentioned. 16This is because any one event could have a variety of outcomes and a particular causal relationship is never certain.
17Both of these theories were presented in more detail in Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. 18If you are following up on these ideas, be aware that he didn t use the term induction himself which can make it a little confusing.
Free Will and Determinism
19Hume was considered a compatibilist who felt that both free will and determinism could exist at the same time. 20In this context, determinism is the belief that all things that happen are a result of previous causal events and that these events can unfold no other way. 21Philosophically, this is usually in direct contrast with the idea of free will, where you are freely able to make choices about your actions. 22If all things happen because they are bound to happen in precisely one way, then how can you truly be free to make choices? 23I n An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume considers that the two seemingly opposite ideas can in fact exist simultaneously. 24In his views, all actions and decisions must have some kind of causal connections. 25So our free choices are always based on previous knowledge, experiences and events. 26In this sense, our freedom is not separate from determinism. 27He felt that truly random actions could not exist and therefore all actions were based on some sort of cause.
Concepts of the Self
28Hume put forward the idea of bundle theory , which states that all objects are merely a collection of properties. 29An object cannot be thought of in any way separate from these properties, and no object could even be conceived in such a way.
30This viewpoint can then be extended to the nature of the self as being a collection of experiences and perceptions. 31We cannot conceive of ourselves without using some defining qualities of emotion, experiences, thoughts and memories. 32So Hume concluded that the self doesn t exist at all as a distinct object, but is a bundle of qualities just like any other object.
The Existence of God
33And staying with our spiritual theme for this book, we should also take a look at Hume s ideas regarding religion and God. 34He didn t feel that seeing an orderly universe around us was proof of a Creator as there can be many types of seemingly organised design that stem from non-directed creation (the growth of plants, for example). 35Even if we did agree that creation has an intelligent designer behind it, that is no rational reason to presume that God is either all-knowing or all-powerful. 36There is no logical connection between these assumptions.
37He covers a great deal on religion in On Superstition and Enthusiasm but his own personal views were likely agnostic (leaning towards atheism). 38Basically he couldn t find any reasoning to disprove God so he considered it a possibility.
Additional Works by Hume
39And as with our other philosophers, here is a quick list of additional works written by Hume that describe his theories further:
i. A Treatise of Human Nature
ii. An Enquiry concerning the principles of morals
iii. The Natural History of Religion
40He also wrote several essays involving politics and his thoughts on local English history.
Classical Philosophers
8 No discussion of philosophy would be complete without a look at the Classical philosophers, particularly those of ancient Greece. 2Many great thinkers developed unique and revolutionary theories during that time that still resonate today. 3Specifically, we will look at Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
4Philosophical constructs were less complex than they are today, so this is a good place to start for anyone unfamiliar with the subject.
Socrates
5Though he is now known as a great philosopher, there are no texts or writings attributed to him. 6He was a speaker and teacher, not a writer. 7The writings of Plato (one of Socrates s students, and a philosopher in his own right) hold the most information on Socrates s ideas, and this is where we get most of our knowledge about his thoughts.
80ne particular concept that Socrates is known for today is the Socratic Method of intellectual debate. 9The premise is that a back-and-forth dialogue of opposing viewpoints can be a useful tool for teaching and for simply creating further understanding of an issue for both parties. 1Olt may not seem too revolutionary to us today, but the idea was cutting edge for its time and many teachers embraced it.
11Socrates felt that acquiring knowledge and wisdom were the ultimate goals in life. 12During a time in Greece when family, political and financial successes were considered the paramount goals in life, his ideas were seen as unusual. 13More than just unusual, they were considered to be a threat to society by local officials and he was sentenced to death for corruption of the young .
14Though his thoughts weren t sophisticated compared to more modern philosophers like Kant or Nietzsche, he influenced many people during his time, which led to further developments in the field. 1S0ne of Socrates finest statements is simple, yet sums up the ethereal nature of wisdom:
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Plato
16As a student of Socrates, it's no surprise that Plato would go on to come up with his own thoughts and theories about logic, ethics and other philosophical topics. 17But since he often wrote of what was being said or taught by Socrates, it is not always easy to discern the origins of some concepts.
180ne particular theory involves the concept of realism, which states that the things we perceive as reality are only reflections of their true forms. 19For example: when we see an apple, we are only seeing a copy or shadow of the true apple that exists outside of our awareness. 2OBasically, nothing we are able to perceive is actually real. 21He goes further to say that the real world is outside of our knowledge and senses. 22Though his framework for reality is complex, he did have one statement that summed up the gist of it all:
“How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in a waking state?
23Plato had many theories on the nature of knowledge itself and was one of the first teachers of epistemology. 24He felt that our souls originally possessed all knowledge and understood the nature of reality, but that knowledge was lost when we were born into our physical bodies. 25And as we learn new things, we are simply recalling that which we had previously known. 261t may seem a bit of an irrelevant point but the underlying theory was that we cannot acquire new knowledge at all. 27We can only remember what we once already knew.
28These are his best-known contributions to philosophy, though he also wrote on many political subjects as well. 29Not surprisingly, he felt that philosophers were better suited to rule than politicians because wisdom was more important in governance than popularity.
300ne of Plato s most notable works is The Republic, a large text made up of 10 volumes covering mainly philosophical and political topics, written in the form of a Socratic dialogue.
Aristotle
31From the same era as Socrates and Plato, Aristotle rounds out the three great Classical thinkers from this period in Greece. 32He was a student of Plato and though he is known for many philosophical concepts, he also worked in the physical sciences as well. 33He looked into the basic elements; motion, optics, geology, probability and more. 34For this discussion, we ll stick to his philosophical thoughts.
35He shared Plato s idea that objects have a true or universal form beyond what we are able to perceive, but Aristotle held that that universal form was held within the object rather than apart from it.
36His work Metaphysics has the most influence on modern philosophy. 371t s fairly extensive and covers a wide number of concepts, both philosophical and otherwise. 38He discusses his theories on reality, substance, matter, logic, essences, categories and universal forms.
39A quote from this text that makes an interesting point on the journey to spiritual wisdom is as follows:
“The investigation of truth is in one way hard, in another easy. An indication of this is found in the fact that no one is able to attain the truth adequately, while on the other hand, no one fails entirely, but everyone says something true about the nature of all things, and while individually they contribute little or nothing to the truth, by the union of all a considerable amount is amassed. (Metaphysics)
Chain of Thought
40These are certainly not the only classical philosophers who have made a big impact on thought and philosophical understanding today, but they are the names that stand out when more modern philosophers talk about who has influenced them. 41Understanding these three provides a good foundation for further reading on the subject. 42The fact that they also represent a chain of teacher-to- student relationships (Socrates taught Plato, who then taught Aristotle) shows how ideas and theories progress over time.