Modern Philosophy 12.5

For the class in Modern Philosophy I'm taking this semester, I have to do a verbal presentation on sections five through eight of Hume’s “Enquiry.” The following is my outline:

Section V, Part I

n      Problem:  human predispositions, bias, and selfishness 

n      Origin: custom

n      Unreasonable

n      Practical 

n      Foundationalism: theory of epistemology

n      Axioms are necessary

n      Experience is the ground of knowledge

Section V, Part II

n      Real existence vs. figments:

n      “the difference between fiction and belief lies in some sentiment or feeling, which is annexed to the latter, not to the former, and which depends not on the will, nor can be commanded at pleasure.” 

n      Association of ideas

n      pragmatic

n      instinctual 

n      “Common sense” philosophy

Section VI

n      “Though there be no such thing as Chance in the world; our ignorance of the real cause of any event has the same influence on the understanding, and begets a like species of belief or opinion.”

n      Die example analogous to probability of causes

n      More correlations => higher probability

n      Custom established by means already explained

n      Fewer correlations => less probability

n      Custom is self-evident in stubbornness

Section VII, Part I

n      Problem of Metaphysics

n      ambiguity

n      abstruseness

n      Further problem

n      we can’t produce a sensation to clarify “necessary connection”

n      arguments against knowledge of necessary connection

Section VII, Part II

n      Problem of Metaphysics

n      ambiguity

n      abstruseness

n      Further problem

n      we can’t produce a sensation to clarify “necessary connection”

n      arguments against knowledge of necessary connection

Section VIII, Part I

n      Historically: big misunderstanding

n      Compatibilism:

n      necessity: the uniformity, observable in the operations of nature, where similar objects are constantly conjoined together, and the mind is determined by custom to infer the one from the appearance of the other

n      freedom/liberty: a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will. 

n      No liberty without necessity

Section VIII, Part II

n      Responsibility: man’s will must be necessitated

n      “Actions are, by their very nature, temporary and perishing; and where they proceed not from some cause in the character and disposition of the person who performed them, they can neither redound to his honour, if good; nor infamy, if evil.” 

n      An objection considered

n      Our ideas, character, &c. is predicated on experience which God has preordained for us. How, then, can we be responsible? Is God the author of sin?