Hume's True Scepticism


Book Description

Provides a sustained interpretation of Part 4 of Book 1 of Hume's Treatise, arguing that Hume uses our reactions to the sceptical arguments as evidence in favor of his model of the mind.




Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume’s Thought


Book Description

David Hume’s philosophical work presents the reader with a perplexing mix of constructive accounts of empirically guided belief and destructive sceptical arguments against all belief. This book reconciles this conflict by showing that Hume intended his scepticism to be remedial. It immunizes us against the influence of “unphilosophical” causes of belief, determining us to proportion our beliefs to the evidence. In making this case, this book develops Humean positions on topics Hume did not discuss in detail but that are of interest to contemporary philosophers: consciousness and the unity of consciousness, temporal experience, visual spatial perception, the experience of colour and other qualia, objective experience, and spatially extended minds. It also challenges currently accepted interpretations of Hume’s views on the finite divisibility of space and time, vacuum, the duration of unchanging objects, and identity over time. It deals with criticisms of Hume that were raised by his contemporaries, notably by Thomas Reid, draws attention to earlier seventeenth‐ and eighteenth‐century work that has bearing on the interpretation of Hume’s thought, and compares Hume’s achievements with those of later nineteenth‐century psychologists and philosophers. Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume’s Thought will appeal to scholars and advanced students interested in Hume, history of philosophy, and early modern theories of perception, time, and consciousness.




An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding


Book Description

"An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" is a book by David Hume created as a revision of an earlier work, Hume's "A Treatise of Human Nature". The argument of the Enquiry proceeds by a series of incremental steps, separated into chapters which logically succeed one another. After expounding his epistemology, Hume explains how to apply his principles to specific topics. This book has proven highly influential, both in the years that would immediately follow and today. Immanuel Kant points to it as the book which woke him from his self-described "dogmatic slumber."







Of the passions


Book Description




Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume's Thought


Book Description

"David Hume's philosophical work presents the reader with a perplexing mix of constructive accounts of empirically guided belief and destructive sceptical arguments against all belief. This book reconciles this conflict by showing that Hume intended his scepticism to be remedial. It immunizes us to the influence of "unphilosophical" causes of belief, determining us to proportion our beliefs to the evidence. In making this case, the book develops Humean positions on topics Hume did not discuss in detail but that are of interest to contemporary philosophers: consciousness and the unity of consciousness, temporal experience, visual spatial perception, the experience of colour and other qualia, objective experience, and spatially extended minds. It also challenges currently accepted interpretations of Hume's views on the finite divisibility of space and time, vacuum, the duration of unchanging objects, and identity over time. It deals with criticisms of Hume that were raised by his contemporaries, notably by Thomas Reid, draws attention to earlier 17th and 18th century work that has bearing on the interpretation of Hume's thought, and compares Hume's achievements with those of later 19th century psychologists and philosophers. Consciousness, Time, and Scepticism in Hume's Thought will appeal to scholars and advanced students interested in Hume, history of philosophy, and early modern theories of perception, time, and consciousness"--




The Cambridge Companion to Hume's Treatise


Book Description

This Companion evaluates Hume's philosophical arguments in A Treatise of Human Nature and considers their historical context, particularly within British empiricism.




Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium


Book Description

Scottish philosopher David Hume claimed that false philosophy leads either to melancholy over the groundlessness of common opinion or delirium over transcending it--while true philosophy leads to wisdom. Here Donald Livingston traces this distinction through all of Hume's writings and reveals its relevance for contemporary discussion.




The Evident Connexion


Book Description

The Evident Connexion presents a bold new reading of David Hume's famous 'bundle' theory of the self or mind, and his later rejection of it. Galen Strawson illuminates the 'uniting principle' of Hume's philosophy and argues that the bundle theory does not, as widely supposed, claim that there are no subjects of experience.




David Hume and Contemporary Philosophy


Book Description

David Hume bridges a gap between classical and non-classical philosophy. Two major approaches in 20th century systematic philosophy – naturalism and relativism – have both basically been inspired by Hume and create the most controversy nowadays. The dethroning of the knowing agent and the spiritual substance from their privileged place opens way to “the death of God” (F. Nietzsche) or “the death of the Author” (R. Barthes). Hume’s criticism of causality corresponds to the indeterminism of the quantum mechanics (B. Russell). K. Popper’s falsificationism would hardly be possible without Hume’s account of induction. L. Wittgenstein’s considerations on rule following reveal similarities with Hume’s idea of habit (S. Kripke) as well as with P. Bourdieu’s concept of “habitus”. D. Bloor likes “to think of Hume as Edinburgh’s great sociologist of knowledge”. The present collection is not a mere contribution to the history of philosophy, though it covers many problems of contemporary Humean scholarship and contains articles written by leading researchers in the field (B. Straud, R. Harre, J. Bricke, etc.). Its aim, rather, is to demonstrate the “vivacity” of Hume for contemporary philosophy. The authors’ considerations range from the subtlest questions of the development of his thought and its impact on the contemporary, to the most recent and controversial topics in epistemology, philosophy of science, political theory and ethics.