hume

Topic: hume Order Description 1. Explain the distinction Hume makes between ideas and impressions. Which one is dependent upon which? Why? And explain how this is so important for Hume's version of empiricism. 2. Why does Hume think that the flow or stream of our ideas is not entirely random, but is governed by principles or laws of connection or association? Formulate his principles of the association or connection of ideas, namely: Resemblance, Contiguity in time or place, and Cause or Effect. Give illustrations of each principle. 3. Hume claims that all objects of human reason or inquiry (all propositions) fall into one of two classes: relations of ideas and matters of fact (this division is called Hume's Fork). What examples does he give of relations of ideas? In what sciences or disciplines does one usually find them? Only in mathematics? Are they discovered or known a priori or a posteriori? Explain the difference between a priori and a posteriori. 4. Hume claims that we never come to know cause-effect relationships a priori but always a posteriori, i.e., from experience. What is the thought experiment about Adam supposed to show? Do people tend to think they have a priori insight into causal relationships in the case of novel objects or in the case of things dramatically different from those of everyday experience? What about cases where the causal mechanism is supposed to be highly complicated or to depend on hidden structure? What about cases where the events are familiar, simple, and without apparent hidden structure, e.g., collisions and motions of ordinary billiard balls? 5. Explain Hume's argument that we never have a good reason to believe that a miracle has occurred. What does he mean by 'miracle' here? 6. Explain Hume's refutation of the argument from Design - why does it fail, in his view?