Hume: A Guide for the Perplexed (Guides For The Perplexed)

193 Pages·2007·6.52 MB·english

by  Angela M. Coventry

HUME: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
THE GUIDES FOR THE PERPLEXED SERIES
Adorno: A Guide for the Perplexed, Alex Thomson
Deleuze: A Guide for the Perplexed, Claire Colebrook
Levinas: A Guide for the Perplexed, B. C. Hutchens
Sartre: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Cox
Wittgenstein: A Guide for the Perplexed, Mark Addis
Merleau-Ponty: A Guide for the Perplexed, Eric Matthews
Gadamer: A Guide for the Perplexed, Chris Lawn
Husserl: A Guide for the Perplexed, Matheson Russell
Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Kemp
Existentialism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Stephen Earnshaw
Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed, Clare Carlisle
Rousseau: A Guide for the Perplexed, Matthew Simpson
Kant: A Guide for the Perplexed, T. K. Seung
HUME: A GUIDE FOR THE
PERPLEXED
ANGELA COVENTRY
continuum
Continuum
Continuum International Publishing Group
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane
11 York Road Suite 704
London SE 1 7NX New York NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
© Angela Coventry 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-10: HB: 0-8264-8922-2
PB: 0-8264-8923-0
ISBN-13: HB: 978-0-8264-8922-7
PB: 978-0-8264-8923-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd,
Bodmin, Cornwall
Dedicated to Martin, Isabella and 'Baby Tummy'
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Abbreviations x
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 : Life and Works of David Hume 3
1.1. Publication Time-Line 11
Chapter 2: Intellectual Heritage 14
2.1. The Growth of Science 14
2.2. Empiricism and Rationalism 15
2.3. Main Influences 17
2.3.1. Descartes 18
2.3.2. Malebranche 18
2.3.3. Newton 20
2.3.4. Locke 21
2.3.5. Berkeley 22
2.3.6. Bayle 24
2.4. Summary 25
Chapter 3: Approach to Philosophy 28
3.1. Definition of Philosophy 28
3.2. Characterization of the Present State of Philosophy 29
3.3. The Science of Human Nature 30
3.3.1. The experimental method 32
3.4. Summary 35
Chapter 4: Operations of the Mind 37
4.1. The Copy Principle 38
4.1.1. Two examples in support of the Copy Principle 40
vii
CONTENTS
4. l .2. The case of the missing shade of blue 41
4.1.3. Impressions and ideas further classified 44
4.2. The Separability Principle 46
4.3. Principles of the Association of Ideas 47
4.3.1. Relations 49
4.3.2. Substance and mode 50
4.3.3. Abstract ideas 53
4.4. Summary 56
Chapter 5: Space and Time 58
5.1. Against the Infinite Divisibility of Space and Time 58
5.2. The Origin of our Ideas of Space and Time 61
5.3. The Vacuum 6 3
5.4. Three Objections Considered 67
5.5. Space, Time and the Copy Principle 72
Chapter 6: Cause and Effect 78
6.1. The Relation of Cause and Effect 78
6.2. Why a Cause Is Always Necessary 82
6.3. The Inference from Cause to Effect 84
6.3.1. The reason of animals 88
6.4. Belief 89
6.4.1. The causes of belief 92
6.4.2. The influence of belief 94
6.5. Probability 94
6.6. Rules to Judge Causes and Effects 96
6.7. Kant's'Reply'to Hume 98
Chapter 7: Necessary Connection 105
7.1. The Idea of Necessary Connection 105
7.2. Liberty and Necessity 110
7.3. Moral and Religious Implications of Necessity 113
7.4. The Imaginary Standard of a Necessary Connection 115
7.5. Summary 134
Chapter8: Scepticism 139
8.1. Scepticism about Reason 139
8.2. The Existence of External Objects 142
8.2.1. Senses 142
8.2.2. Reason 144
8.2.3. Imagination 145
8.3. Ancient Philosophy 151
8.4. Modern Philosophy 152
8.5. The Immaterial Soul 154
viii
CONTENTS
8.6. Personal Identity 157
8.7. Effects of Scepticism on Philosophy 161
8.8. Scepticism and the Science of Human Nature 165
Bibliography 169
Index 174
ix