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A Critique Of David Hume Empiricism
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1.6 METHODOLOGY
The method to be adopted in this
work is that of critical study. As the work is on David Hume’s
empiricism, the method will therefore be, first of all to present a
general overview of empiricism. After this we will then narrow our
attention down to Hume’s notion of the subject matter empiricism. It
will be after presenting these that we will therefore settle down to
criticize.
For the purpose of convenience however, our criticism is
going to be in two phases. The first phase will be to provide the
attacks which had been leveled against Hume’s empiricism by other
people, this is because we are quite aware that Hume’s empiricism has
come under attacks over the years.
The second phase of the criticism
will therefore be our own criticism. We will here point out as will be
able, some of those problems Hume’s empiricism are shrouded with due to
Hume’s radical position, and based on these, we will therefore draw our
criticisms against his empiricism.
1.7 LITERATURE REVIEW
Our aim
here is to provide the reader with the knowledge of some of the texts
used in this work. But first of all, David Hume’s book constitute
primary literature.
In his book, “An Enquiry Concerning Human
Understanding†edited by Eric Steinberg and published by Hacket
Publishing Company, Indianapolis in 1977,4 David Hume was bent on
demonstrating that an enquiry, the objects of human reason will be
discovered to include only relations of ideas and matters of fact. These
are only two categories under which any knowledge that is certain can
be placed. All issues dealing with numbers are intuitively certain and
therefore under “relations of ideas†where anything discoverable by
experience is under “matters of factâ€.
Also, in another book, “David
Hume and problem of reason; recovering – the human sciences†(published
by Yale University Press in 1990)5, John Danford explained how
skepticism concerning the ability of reason to lead to knowledge
acquisition led to Hume’s position was to show that when reason is cut
loose or severed from experience, it can only generate irresolution and
confusion.
In the book, A Critical Account of the philosophy of Kant,
published by James Maclehose in 1876,6 we see Edward. Caird showing
Hume claims about the passivity of the mind in knowledge acquisition on
through the â€association of ideasâ€. Here the mind is shown as not
actively dealing with given materials to come up with knowledge but as
finding already in the very data of sensation certain natural relations
or associative principle by virtue of which one idea calls up another
and therefore present a clear picture of something to the mind.
END NOTES
David
Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, edited by Eric
Steinberg, (Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Co. 1977), p. 112.
Ibid pg. 114.
Pentaleon Iroegbu, Metaphysics: The Kpim of Philosophy, (Owerri): International Universities Press, 1995), p. 179.
Op Cit.
John
W. Danford, David Hume and the Problem of Reason; Recovering the Human
Sciences (New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1990) p. 85.
Edward Caird M.A, A Critical Account of the Philosophy of Kant (Glosgow: James Maclehose 1877), pp. 67-68.
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