Essay on Critique of Humes Analysis of Causality

Critique of Humes Analysis of Causality Humes analyses of human apprehension and of causality were the most penetrating up to his time and continue to have great influence. Contemporary Spanish philosopher Xavier Zubiri (1893-1983) has examined both and identified three underlying errors: (1) the failure to recognize that there are three stages of human intellection, and especially that the first, primordial apprehension, has quite unique characteristics; (2) the attempt to place an excessive burden on the content of impressions while ignoring what Zubiri terms their formality of reality; and (3) the failure to recognize that functionality, not causality, is the basis for most of our knowledge. Causal chains in general cannot be†¦show more content†¦This task Hume undertook in his Treatise of Human Nature, Book I. In Part IV, he is concerned to establish a reason or explanation for our belief in the independent and continuing existence of external things or bodies, for upon this all causal reasoning about such thi ngs must ultimately rest. As is well known, Hume argues that such belief must either come from the senses, reason, or what he terms imagination; and he dismisses the first two, leaving only the last, where he attributes the belief to coherence and constancy of impressions. (1) For the present study, details of Humes argument are not as important as his basic assumptions. One of those assumptions, never explicitly stated but always lurking just beneath the surface, is that all reasoning and understanding of the external world comes from the mind working on the content of sensible impressions, be they pains, pleasures, colors, or sounds. The burden of inferring the existence of things outside of the mind then must fall upon the mind and those processes available to it, because what the senses deliver is inadequate to the task: That our senses offer not their impressions as the images of something distinct, or independent, and external, is evident; because they convey to usShow MoreRelated Metaphysics as Addressed by Kant and Hume Essay1387 Words   |  6 PagesMetaphysics as Addressed by Kant and Hume In the Prolegomena, Kant states that reading David Hume, awakened him from his dogmatic slumber. It was Humes An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding that made Kant aware of issues and prejudices in his life that he had previously been unaware of. This further prompted Kant to respond to Hume with his own analysis on the theory of metaphysics. Kant did not feel that Hume dealt with these matters adequately and resolved to pick up where Hume had left offRead MoreEssay on Analysis of Hume’s Critique of Causation1825 Words   |  8 PagesAnalysis of Hume’s Critique of Causation Sometimes it is hard to be sure what conclusion to draw from a Humean analysis, and he is easy to misrepresent. This is partly because one argument he is engaged in may raise a number of related issues that he has dealt with elsewhere, and some of his points seem contradictory. My wish is to consider some of the possible readings of David Hume’s critique of causation, as it appears in Section VII of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, â€Å"On NecessaryRead MoreEssay on Inconsistencies in Humes Empirical Thought2264 Words   |  10 PagesInconsistencies in Humes Empirical Thought    In his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume attempts to uncover the ultimate truth about where our knowledge comes from.   This leads him to suggest that all our ideas and knowledge arise from outward experiences and sensations.   He attempts to prove this by solving the problem of induction.   I disagree with Humes ideas, and in this essay I will explain why.   I shall begin by explaining the problem of induction, and the scepticalRead More Al-Ghazà ¢là ®, Causality, and Knowledge Essay3905 Words   |  16 PagesAl-Ghazà ¢là ®, Causality, and Knowledge ABSTRACT: Few passages in Arabic philosophy have attracted as much attention as al-Ghazà ¢là ®s discussion of causality in the seventeenth discussion of Tahà ¢fut al-Falsafa, along with the response of Ibn Rushd (Averroà «s) in his Tahà ¢fut al-Tahà ¢fut. A question often asked is to what extent al-Ghazà ¢là ® can be called an occasionalist; that is, whether he follows other Kalà ¢m thinkers in restricting causal agency to God alone. What has not been thoroughly addressedRead More Immanuel Kant’s Metaphysics Essay3676 Words   |  15 Pagesthe CPR . . . will look forward with delight to metaphysics, which is now indeed in his power.† Yet the image of an â€Å"Alleszermalmer† persists, who dismantled the foundations of a philosophical edifice which had barely withstood the ravagement of Hume’s onslaught on its â€Å"occult fancies†! These discrepancies should make us wonder how one of the three greatest thinkers of all time could be so far deluded as to miss the outcome and import of his efforts! I propose to consider this problematic issue