Analysis Of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, By David Hume
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a book written by the Scottish philosopher David Hume and was published in 1784. The Enquiry is a more popular and clarified revision of Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature. The argument of the book begins with a series of cumulative steps, divided into chapters which logically support and assist one another. After explaining his beliefs, Hume then describes how to apply his principles.
Hume begins the Enquiry by explaining two different types of moral philosophy including the “romantic” and the “scientist.” Hume notes that romantic philosophers are the general population and the scientist philosophers are more obscure. However, Hume defends the science based philosophers by saying that it is their job to bring awareness to others and even though they may be wrong. Hume ends section one with his argument that humanity should rigorously investigate the nature of human understanding to gain clarity. Furthermore, Hume explains that there are a right and wrong to every thought and observation, and individuals are capable of finding the truth and rejecting falsehood.
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The relations of ideas are found in the world of math and science and are evidently certain. And in contrast, matters-of -act are the undeniable truths that we learn from experience and are often contradictory. Individuals can understand matters-of-fact depending on the idea of cause and effect, where an impression will lead to an unobserved cause. For example, humanity understands the fact that the moon will disappear and lead to a sunrise the next day based on past observations. Hume then advocates that habit, and not reason, creates connection between events. When the human mind observes events that are often associated, imagination often establishes a connection between them even if it is
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