Hume: Precursor of Modern Empiricism

ISBN-13: 9789401502085 / Angielski / Miękka / 1973 / 236 str.

Farhang Zabeeh

Opis

David Hume is the most influential precursor of modern empiri cism. By modern empiricism, I intend a belief that all cognitive conflicts can be resolved, in principle, by either appeal to matters off act, via scientific procedure, or by appeal to some sets of natural or conventional standards, whether linguistic, mathematical, aes thetic or political. This belief itself is a consequent of an old appre hension that all synthetic knowledge is based on experience, and that the rest can be reduced to a set of self-evident truths. In this broad sense, Modern Empiricism encompasses classes, such as Logi cal Empiricism, Logical Atomism and Philosophical Analysis, and unique individuals such as Russell and Moore. It excludes, thereby, the present day continental philosophies, such as Thomism, Exist entialism, and Dialectical Materialism. Modem empiricists, to be sure, are influenced by many other phi losophers. Locke, Berkeley, and Mill, among the classical empiri cists, and Leibniz and Kant, among the rationalists (the former especially on the logico-mathematical side) in one way or other are responsible for the appearance of empiricism in its new form. But none of them were as influential as Hume. This, by itself is not news. Weinberg, in his well-known book, An Examination of Logical Positivism, observes that: Many, if not all, of the principal doctrines of contemporary positivism derive from Hume."

Spis treści

One / The Principle of Meaning.- 1 The Critique of Metaphysics.- 2 The Limit of Human Knowledge.- An Exposition.- An Interpretation.- 3 The Principle of the Priority of Impressions to Ideas.- 4 The Application of the Principle.- 5 Meaning and Complex Ideas.- 6 Summary of the Chapter.- Two / Evaluation of Hume’s Principle.- 1 Introduction.- 2 On the Relation of Impressions and Ideas..- 3 On the Relation of Words and Impressions.- 4 The Difficulty with the Recurrence of Impressions.- 5 The Difficulty with the Privacy of Impressions...- 6 The Difficulty of Establishing Meaning by Looking for the Origin of Ideas.- Three / The Principle of Ana ytici.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Statement of the Principle.- 3 An Analysis of Hume’s Principle.- 4 Hume’s Explanation of Logical Concepts..- 5 Hume’s View of Logic.- 6 Summary of the Chapter.- Four / Statement of the Problem.- 1 Historical Setting.- 2 The Empiricists’ Dilemma.- 3 A Brief Comparison.- 4 The Main Issue.- Five / The Domain of Deductive Reason.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Knowledge and Its Objects.- Nature of Knowledge.- Criticism of Platonism in Mathematics.- Hume’s Theory of General Ideas.- Some Criticism of Hume’s Theory of General Ideas.- 3 The Science of Arithmetic.- Hume’s View on the Nature of Arithmetical Relations.- The Nature of Arithmetical Ideas.- Criticism of Hume’s Idea of Number.- 4 The Science of Geometry.- On Geometry.- Interpretation of Hume’s View on Geometry.- 5 Is Knowledge Attainable?.- Of Scepticism with Regard to Deductive Reason.- Criticism of Hume’s Scepticism.- 6 Conclusion of the Chapter.- Six / The Domain of Inductive Reason.- 1 Introduction.- 2 The Foundation of Empirical Knowledge.- Two Kinds of Reductions.- The Nature of Inference.- 3 The Problem of Induction.- The Principle of Induction.- Beliefs.- 4 Matters of Fact.- Contrast with the Basic-Proposition.- Contrast with the Optative Assertions.- Scepticism with Regard to the External World.- Scepticism with Regard to Self.- 5 Evaluation of Hume’s Problem of Induction..- A Sketch of the Problem.- The Myth of the Given.- The Assumption of the Uniformity of Nature.- Seven / Summary and Conclusion.