Hume's 'Enquiry concerning human understanding' (seminar)

David Hume believed in two types of modern philosophy.

The first type holds that a man is born for action, that he places value on objects in he context of which he observes them.

This type of philosophy is of the idealist, who remarks upon the most striking observations in life and thus gains the most fame and their works are not so quickly forgotten. 

The other type of philosophy is of philosophers who spend their days attempting to further their own understandings through constant speculation and inquiry despite the hardships they might endure.

The first type of philosophy is seen as easy and obvious, a philosophy that tries to shape mans behaviour whereas the second Hume views as Accurate, abstruse and profound which sees man more passively seeking only understanding which is what it attempts to provide.

He remarks this easy and obvious philosophy is thus more applicable to the masses who may use it to shape their own minds, hearts and actions which in turn gives the philosophy more longevity in the public eye. In contrast the profound cannot be so simply applied especially when the common man may find such works intelligible. He states this is why the works of Aristotle have been quickly forgotten and that of Locke will surely follow.  

Because men are satisfied with easy philosophy and with ignorance or wiling ignorance with roots in religion, superstition or lack of scientific knowledge, they choose to reject the accurate, abstruse and profound philosophy. 

Hume argues that we cannot have this easy philosophy without the profound for it provides the basis for the former. He explains this with the analogy of the anatomist and the painter; the former provides accuracy to what may be an ugly thing and from this the painter can evoke beauty and something more pleasurable to the untrained eye.

Hume states that science of the mind, body and its various faculties is always uncertain. Yet there are speculations which are beyond doubt such as the distinctions between will, imagination and understanding.

‘Of the origin of ideas’:
Hume states the perceptions of the mind can be divided into two classes according to their force and vivacity. The lesser of these are thoughts and ideas. The others are impressions i.e. our perceptions when we see, hear, feel, love/hate, desire or will.

He goes on to say that whilst it appears the human mind has limitless creativity Hume argues it is actually confined to very narrow limits. All ideas a man can have are of ideas and impressions which is similar to Locke’s own theories.

He offers the following proof of this argument: God, which we give all the qualities of virtue and perfection is simply that, conception formed by the ideas of kindness, wisdom etc and so this complex idea is simply a combination of ideas derived from similar impressions.

Further to this he asserts another argument which can be summarised as to say that if a person has not experienced certain impressions, they cannot develop ideas associated with them. For example a blind man has no idea of colour.

To this Hume provides the counter argument, that if a man has seen all shades of blue bar one, when presented with all these shades in order will his mind be able to construe the missing piece. Hume argues no.

He goes on to state that ideas, especially the abstract are naturally faint and obscure whereas impressions remain strong and vivid and the distinctions between them are far more clear than that of confounded ideas.

Hume, Kant, causation, induction, inference and the scientific process

Causation: A theory of causation establishes the relationship between cause and effect. The simplest form of causation is that cause equals effect however more complex refutations have emerged from the likes of Kant and Hume. 

Kant’s book ‘The Critique of Pure Reason’ sought to prove that knowledge cannot transcend experience and is in part a priori. In this he analyses the distinctions between analytic and synthetic propositions and a prior and empirical propositions. 

Analytic proposition: A proposition that is self-evident and cannot contradict itself e.g. A wet cat is a cat.

Synthetic proposition: A proposition garnered from experience. 

Empirical proposition: A proposition derived from experience or observational data e.g. history or the laws of science.

A priori proposition: A proposition that may be derived from experience but when known, no longer requires observational data to affirm its certainty e.g. a mathematical proof. 

When Hume talks of causation he states that ‘Tis only causation, which produces such a connexion, as to give us assurance from the existence or action of one object, that ‘twas followed or preceded by any other circumstances by any other existence or action.’ This effectively means that causation allows us to see a relationship between two objects but does not allow us to definitively state ‘A causes B’.  Therefore he states experience gives us knowledge of cause and effect but it is not enough to know of A and B to establish cause and effect. Instead that through many instances whereby A has inferred B, A is consequently associated with B and thus establishes cause and effect between A and B which are now always conjoined. 

The scientific process uses synthetic logic in its reasoning and drawing conclusions. Science in itself cannot be one hundred percent sure on any matter linked with causation such as the effects of e.g. smoking or alcohol intake on health. They can only provide evidence which supports this and overall increase the probability that any theory propagated is true. This can be primarily seen for the theory of evolution, as this cannot be observed and proven it is simply a matter of providing evidence to the theory and the ability to refute the attacks of others. Therefore the theory of evolution is probably true due to the large amounts of evidence towards it but due to the nature of science it cannot be claimed to be an absolute truth and on these grounds it continues to be attacked by its opponents criticising the science who do not comprehend the fundamental way in which science operates.

Seminar Notes: Week 6

Joseph Addison –The Spectator No.476

Addison believes that irregularity and a lack of method in writings are only acceptable from true men of genius who have too much to say than to refine and order it for the reader.

He argues to have method in writing, to refine and order ones thoughts in discourse is better for both writer and reader. It allows the reader to better comprehend the text and remember it as the writer had in their thoughts.

Method should also be used in conversation he wishes due to its noticeable absence in debates between men.

He emphasises how debates may begin well, with clear questions but these are quickly lost as most men diverge into other topics, unable to answer the original question.

His writings portray debates as having little organisation and structure, little integrity as it is more prevalent that men avoid questions and pose other distracting questions to throw off the opponent. 

There are men who have no method yet due to their expert nature of avoiding questions and bringing in topics they are more comfortable in they gain followers too stupid to see through this guise.

Overall men of clear argument have advantage over those who don’t but those who don’t far outnumber the well prepared men of rationale. 

The Royal Exchange

The Royal Exchange details one man’s pleasure from associating with and observing merchants of all races and nationalities.

The Royal Exchange is essentially politics for merchants, where commerce between nations can be negotiated for all manner of things form food to clothes and furniture.

At this time period international trade was opening the world and nations were experiencing things such as exotic fruits they couldn’t before.

Trade had become a necessity as things as simple as meals often had ingredients derived from a multitude of different countries. 

Britain was one of the main hubs of trade and the Royal Exchange in London accommodated this. 

Riches were easily gained by these business ventures, trade allowed those with capital to invest to get far richer whilst allowing the poor to find work.

Lecture Notes Week 5: Origins of the Press - The English Civil War and Restoration Journalism

The oldest known form of writing is a type of Chinese pictographic script dating back to around 6600BCE called Jiǎhú the symbols of which were discovered on turtle plastrons and represent a very basic form of writing. Around 2000 years later emerges another of the oldest writing systems in the world; Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The oldest form of this writing has been found in Abydos which dated as far back as 3400BCE of the Predynastic period. Following this Sumerian Cuneiform came into use at around 3300BCE and was similar to hieroglyphics in the fact it was pictographic in nature. It was recorded on items of pottery, first to mark how many tokens and what kinds were inside and then used instead of tokens.

The evolution of language and specifically recording it has its roots in theology. The dominance and influence of Christianity produced the Lindesfarne Gospels around 698 to 715. The demand for religious text but the slow process of hand written manuscripts would result in the invention of the first printing press by the Chinese in 593 and its perfection in the form of the Guttenberg printing press in 1440 which was primarily used to produce Bibles known as Guttenberg Bibles. The result of Guttenberg’s printing press was instant and far reaching, not only could books be reproduced at a faster rate but it could be done so at a lower cost. Furthermore all kinds of knowledge could now be circulated to any and all who wished it, this helped the rise of both science and philosophy perhaps most noticeably in the Italian Renaissance.

With the advent of the press and its widespread usage throughout the world and the resulting democratisation of knowledge ideas could propagate and spread quickly with large consequences. For example the works of Martin Luther titled 'Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum' which translates from Latin to ‘95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.' This book resonated with many people and would result in The Reformation. A product of this would be John Foxe’s ‘The Book of Martyrs’ which would shape British Protestant opinion against Catholics for years to come.

Mary was the Catholic queen and known for her intolerance of non-Catholics going as far to burn them at the stake as exemplified by Foxe’s book. Upon her death, Elizabeth, Mary’s very Protestant sister came to the throne. King Philip of Spain who had been married to the late Mary had wanted Britain to be ruled by Catholics even if this was by force and after convincing the Papal authority he was given permission to invade Britain and turn the country back to Catholicism. In 1588 the Spanish Armada set sail over 130 ships in number. However a number of factors would result in the defeat and the utter destruction of their forces in their retreat by the merciless storms which reduced their numbers to half. The storms were seen as a divine intervention and only served to reaffirm people’s faith in Protestantism.

Due to Protestant nature of Britain, many other religious denominations felt oppressed and moved to America. A symbol of this want for religious freedom was the voyage of The Mayflower which transported many Puritans to the new land of America.

The British Civil War was waged between 1642 and 1651 and involved the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. The Parliamentarians would eventually emerge victorious under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. The restoration occurred within a decade after the Civil War had ended and Cromwell the Lord Protector had died. In 1660 Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda which made several promises under condition that he reclaimed the crown. He subsequently returned from exile and was crowned in 1661. Literature of this time period was wildly uneven reaching all extremes as greater freedom of thought brought forth many different genres of writing such as that of Locke and his ‘Essay on Human Understanding.’

In 1688 The Glorious Revolution took place in Britain as King James II was overthrown and replaced with William of Orange. In 1690 James II attempted to regain the crown through military force however despite a large army and French support he was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne by William and his army. James II would flee to France and the threat of further insurrection by the Catholics had been symbolically crushed.

As Locke furthered understanding into the human, Issac Newton would further scientific advancement in Physics with the publishing of his ‘Mathematical Principles Of Natural Philosophy.’

In 1702 the first daily newspaper in England; ‘The Daily Courant’ was published. It lasted until 1735 and detailed foreign news objectively on its single page with two columns.

Daniel Defoe was a prominent writer of the time gaining fame for his book ‘Robinson Crusoe.’ He helped to popularise the novel and was a versatile writer to the extent he was arrested for his published political opinions. He was also hired by Robert Harley, a British politician; to spy on demonstrators against the union.

In 1707 the Act of Union between England and Scotland occurred forming Great Britain. Each party had different objectives, for the Scottish it was to recover financially from the disastrous Darien Scheme. Meanwhile the British wanted to ensure the Scottish could not instil a monarch who might form alliances against England.

The Spectator, a British magazine was first published in 1828 and focuses on politics and culture. The original Tatler meanwhile was founded in 1709 by Richard Steele and focused on news and gossip leaving politics to other papers of the time. Whilst the Spectator remains around today still focusing on politics and culture the Tatler has gone through several incarnations and no longer resembles its original form.

William Hogarth was a pioneer in pictorial social commentary. Using his illustrations to mark a political point or convey a message. His work allowed him to get the Engraving Copyright Act of 1734 passed which protected engravers like himself who produced original designs.

In 1755 ‘A Dictionary of The English Language’ was published having been written by Samuel Johnson. It was a monumental piece of work especially considering it had only been written by one man. It was exported to America and influenced many other works.

The American Revolution was whereby the 13 colonies in North America allied together to break free of the British Empire and succeeded forming the United States of America. The French Revolution concerned removing the monarchy and establishing itself as a secular stateThe Battle of Waterloo saw the defeat of Emperor Napoleon by a combined British and Prussian army. It saw a final end to Napoleon’s rule and his permanent exile with the restoration of the French monarchy in his stead.

The Battle of Waterloo saw the defeat of Emperor Napoleon by a combined British and Prussian army. It saw a final end to Napoleon’s rule and his permanent exile with the restoration of the French monarchy in his stead.