1, causal problem
Hume disagreed with the view that as long as one thing comes with another thing, there must be a connection between the two things, which makes the latter appear with the former (it appeared after that, so it must come from here).
Step 2 summarize the problem
In The Theory of Human Understanding, Hume believes that all human thinking activities can be divided into two types: the pursuit of "the relationship between ideas" and "the question of facts".
The former involves abstract logical concepts and mathematics, mainly intuitive and logical deduction; The latter focuses on the study of the real world. In order to avoid being influenced by any actual truth we don't know or facts we didn't perceive in past experience, we must use inductive thinking.
3. Self-theory
Hume pointed out that we usually assume that we are the same as five years ago, although we have changed in many ways. We were the same person five years ago and now. We also think about how much time can change a person's heart without changing ourselves.
However, Hume denied that there are differences between the mysterious self and a person's various personalities.
When we begin to introspect, we will find: "we can never have any consciousness unless we rely on some kind of feeling;" People are just a collection or package of many different feelings, and these feelings always alternate with each other at an unimaginable flow speed. "
4. Practical rationality
Most people will think that some behaviors are more "reasonable" than others. For example, swallowing aluminum foil is a strange move for most people. However, Hume denied that reason played any important role in promoting or rejecting specific behaviors. After all, rationality is only the calculation of concepts and experiences.
According to Hume, what really matters is how we feel these behaviors. Hume's theory is regarded as the basic principle of modern instrumentalism, which holds that the rationality of an action should depend on whether it can achieve its predetermined goals and desires, no matter what these goals and desires are.
Reason only acts as a medium and tool, telling us what kind of behavior can achieve our goals and desires, but reason itself can never in turn guide us to choose what kind of goals and desires.
Extended data:
In Hume's view, the so-called causal relationship is still in doubt, not to mention the complexity and changeability of human society.
With the blessing of truth, Newton, who thinks himself as a social field, can't resist the temptation of "Utopia" and put the fantasy of transforming society into practice, but he doesn't realize that they seriously underestimated the finiteness of reason and the complexity of society, and brought mankind into an irreparable disaster, such as the French Revolution.
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