David Hume: Empiricism and the Human Mind
David Hume was one of the leading representatives of British empiricism. His clear and profound criticism of rationalism awakened Immanuel Kant from his “dogmatic slumber”. Hume applied the scientific method to study the human mind, analyzing the psychological processes with a similar or comparable model to that used for the analysis of physical phenomena. The basic elements or “atoms” are here perceptions (impressions and simple ideas) that relate to each other spontaneously under the laws of association of ideas (likeness, spatial and temporal contiguity, and causation). Since all ideas derive from impressions, one cannot speak, as did the rationalists, of “innate ideas”.
Key Concepts in Hume’s Philosophy
- Impressions: According to Hume, impressions are from unknown causes.
- Perceptions: The basic elements or primordial activity of the spirit, which is precisely to relate.
- Impressions: Perceptions that are vivid and intense. They may come from:
- External sensation, also called simply “to sense” (hearing, seeing, etc.).
- Internal sensation, also called “feeling” (desire, hate, etc.).
- Simple ideas: Faint and obscure perceptions. These are copies of impressions and come from them (memories, fantasies, imagination, etc.).
- Reasoning: From simple ideas, the spirit, reason, and build complex sentences and ideas.
- Complex ideas: The mind naturally tends to associate simple ideas, shaping complex ideas. The more general and abstract ideas come from the simplest ideas and these from impressions. If the simple ideas that make up a complex idea are not found in the same order in which we are given the impression from which they originate, the complex idea is not responding to impressions but to the imagination.
- Relations of reason: Propositions whose truth depends on the ideas themselves. They allow us to achieve true knowledge because their content is necessary and not contingent (Mathematics & Logic). Only on this level is “demonstration” possible.
- Statements of fact: On questions of fact, there is no possibility of reaching certain knowledge, or demonstration, because there is no necessity but contingency and, therefore, the opposite can always be thought without contradiction. However, Hume argues that, based on regular observation and experimentation, one can formulate “evidence” (which does not allow reasonable doubt) or “likely” (recalling experiences with varying results). Anyway, we have no true science of matters of fact, since the idea of causality that allows us to unite phenomena, explain, and predict, is not supported in any impressions and therefore finds its basis only in imagination and custom.
- Words: Words represent ideas, so that their meaning derives ultimately from the impressions from which they originate.
David Hume’s Life
Early Life and Education (1711-1745)
David Hume was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1711. Although his family was wealthy, it was not enough to allow Hume to devote himself exclusively to philosophy. His father directed him toward a legal career, to which he dedicated a few months in Bristol. However, since he was very young, Hume stated, in his words, “an insurmountable aversion to everything that was not philosophical inquiry and knowledge in general”. He quit his job and traveled to France, where he remained between 1734-1737, prepared to devote himself entirely to philosophy.
During those years, he composed his first work, “A Treatise of Human Nature,” written “during my retreat in France, first in Reims, but chiefly at La Flèche, Anjou,” as he tells us in his autobiography. It is worth noting that Descartes had studied precisely in La Flèche, which has given rise to some speculation about Hume’s intent in retreating to the same place. In 1737, he returned to London, then headed to Scotland where he lived for a few years with his mother and brother. In 1739, he published the first two volumes of the “Treatise”, followed by a third in 1740. The little success was a heavy blow to Hume, who even says in his autobiography, “Never any literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise of Human Nature.” However, the subsequent success achieved in 1742 by the “Essays” made him completely forget his earlier failure, encouraging him to rewrite the “Treatise” (the work to be published in 1748 under the title: “Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding”). He applied in 1745 for the chair of ethics at the University of Edinburgh, a position he probably did not get due to his reputation as a skeptic and atheist. After a year in England, as a private tutor to the Marquis of Annandale, he was invited by General St. Clair on an expedition that, initially directed against Canada, ended with a small raid on the French coast. Then, in 1747, he was invited by the general to accompany him as an embassy secretary to the military courts of Vienna and Turin. These activities enabled him to improve his financial situation.
Mid-Life and Philosophical Works (1749-1763)
In 1749, he returned to Scotland, where he spent two years with his brother at his house, publishing some more pieces. In 1752, he settled in Edinburgh where he was appointed librarian of the Faculty of Law, devoting his activity to philosophical, historical, social, and political problems, as evidenced by the works published thereafter.
Later Years and Death (1763-1776)
In 1763, he received an invitation from the Earl of Hertford to accompany him to Paris as secretary of the embassy. Initially rejecting the invitation, Hume accepted at the insistence of the count, going to Paris where he remained until 1766. He participated in the activities of the Encyclopedists and enlightened circles, befriending some of the major figures of the time, like Rousseau.
On his return to London, he was named Under-Secretary of State for the Northern Department, which dealt with matters of diplomacy with the countries situated north of France. This unpaid position he held for two years until 1769. That year he returned to Edinburgh, continuing his study and research activities. He died on August 25, 1776, having previously written, on April 18, a short autobiography, aware of his prompt and inevitable death.