David Hume: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher and historian and is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment. Hume strove to create a total naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. He argues that belief rather than reason governed human behaviour, famously saying: “Reason and is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.”

He argued against the existence of innate ideas, concluding instead that humans have knowledge only of things they directly experience. He divides perceptions between strong and lively impressions or direct sensations and fainter ideas which are copied from impressions. He developed the position that mental behaviour is governed by custom; our use of induction, for example, is justified only by our idea of the constant conjunction of causes and effects. With direct impressions of a metaphysical self, he concluded that humans have no actual conception of the self, only of a bundle of sensations associated with the self. This means, he believes quite considerably that humans have no interaction with their own self or can prove that their own self exists but our sensations that we feel can help us to believe we do exist. Hume was also a sentimentalist who held that ethics are based on feelings rather than abstract moral principles.

In 1748, Hume published An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. In the beginning of the book, section 1, Hume is introducing philosophy. He says there are two types of philosophy; Moral philosophy which is the philosophy or science of human nature and natural philosophy. In moral philosophy he considers man to be born for action influenced in his measures by taste and sentiment. They make us feel the difference between vice and virtue.  He says that these philosophers match popular opinion more. ‘The other species of philosophers’ consider man in the light of the reasonable rather than an active being. They regard human nature as a subject of speculation and so they examine it and therefore, they find ways to analyse reasons for the creation of the world and nature and also the way in which humans think.

He argues that philosophy which is founded on a turn of mind which cannot enter into business and action is likely to be forgotten whereas philosophy which is accurate and can be proven is considered to be more agreeable and more useful. He says man is a reasonable being and as such, receives from science his proper food and nourishment. This makes me think he prefers the work of philosophers who can justify their beliefs, findings and ideas of the world through experiment and science because we can trust these reasons more so with a bit of evidence.

Man is an active being and therefore needs to be occupied so must submit to business or occupation but the mind also needs some relaxation and cannot always support its bent to care and industry. When he says this he believes that human beings need to keep society and the industry in order and need to participate in an occupation in order to ensure that services are available and living is improved but at the same time human beings need their relaxation time for pleasure and entertainment. I like the saying he Hume uses: ‘Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.’ This means that as much you should be a philosopher and a believer, at the same time you should still be a man and man should enjoy his own taste and sentiment.

I agree when Hume says that the sweetest and most inoffensive path of life leads through the avenues of science and learning. Science can find so many essential life necessities such as the creation of medicine (and of course vanities!) and the interesting findings in space, we learn about things that are proven to exist but we can’t actually see or feel them yet science allows to have the knowledge of knowing they do exist.

In the origins of ideas, Hume discusses the distinction between impressions and ideas. By impressions, he means sensations and by ideas he means memories and imaginings. He compares our ideas and impressions and how important our ideas can be and how impressions we have of something can cause an idea as he says: “The idea of God, as meaning an infinitely intelligent, wise, and good being, arises from reflecting on the operations of our own mind, and augmenting, without limit, those qualities of goodness and wisdom. We may prosecute this enquiry to what length we please; where we shall always find, that every idea which we examine is copied from a similar impression.”

Hume is trying to suggest that the ideas we have of something, for example, the taste of wine, is much different to our sensations or impressions of it, for example, different than actually drinking it. Therefore, he argues that impressions are the sources of all ideas.

However, Hume does say that there is one contradictory phenomenon, which may prove that it is not absolutely impossible for ideas to arise, without having an impression at all of something particular before. He asks us to imagine a man who has seen every shade of blue except one. He believes that it is possible the man will be able to have an idea of that particular shade, from his own imagination without any impressions. But Hume says that by bringing ideas into so clear a light we may reasonably be able to remove all dispute, which may arise concerning their nature and reality.