Question 1

Compare Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume on our knowledge of ourselves.

Accepted Answer

Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume all had different perspectives on our knowledge of ourselves.

Thomas Hobbes believed that our knowledge of ourselves comes from our sensory experiences and perceptions. He argued that all knowledge is derived from sensation and that the mind is a blank slate at birth, with all knowledge coming from external experiences.

John Locke also emphasized the role of sensory experiences in shaping our knowledge of ourselves. He proposed the concept of tabula rasa, or the idea that the mind is a blank slate at birth and that all knowledge comes from experience. Locke believed that our knowledge of ourselves is based on our perceptions and experiences, and that our identity is shaped by our interactions with the external world.

George Berkeley, on the other hand, rejected the idea of material substance and argued that our knowledge of ourselves and the world is based on our perceptions. He believed that the only things that exist are those that are perceived, and that our knowledge of ourselves is based on our perceptions and experiences.

David Hume also emphasized the role of perceptions and experiences in shaping our knowledge of ourselves. He argued that our sense perceptions and experiences are the foundation of all knowledge, and that our understanding of ourselves is based on our perceptions and experiences.

In summary, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume all emphasized the role of sensory experiences and perceptions in shaping our knowledge of ourselves, but they had different perspectives on the nature of knowledge and the self.

Question 2

Hume thinks we can have both modern science and human freedom. This is because

Accepted Answer

A)  the human soul escapes the network of scientific causality. 
B)  modern science itself shows us that there are no laws of human behavior. 
C)  we know God would not have created us as mere puppets. 
D)  liberty and necessity, when properly understood, are seen to be compatible. 
A)  the human soul escapes the network of scientific causality. 
B)  modern science itself shows us that there are no laws of human behavior. 
C)  we know God would not have created us as mere puppets. 
D)  liberty and necessity, when properly understood, are seen to be compatible. D

Question 3

What is Hume's view about the self or soul?

Accepted Answer

We do have the idea of a self, the idea of something simple and unchanging that persists through time and explains why we are the same today as we were years ago. Hume asks: From what impression is this idea derived? When he looks inside himself, he says, all he finds are various perceptions rapidly succeeding each other. So the idea of self or soul cannot be traced back to an impression. It is, in fact, a fiction, Hume thinks, created by confusing small changes with no changes at all, and similarity with sameness. We are but a bundle of perceptions.

Question 4

With regard to the existence of God, Hume says that

Accepted Answer

A)  there is no way I can be the originator of an idea of infinite perfection, since if I were, something would have come from nothing. 
B)  the well-ordered character of the world proves a posteriori that the Author of Nature is somewhat similar to the mind of man. 
C)  revealed truth, together with philosophical skepticism, is the only sound basis for being a believer. 
D)  the world was created by many wicked gods over a long time, during which they slowly gained skill in the art of world making. 
A)  there is no way I can be the originator of an idea of infinite perfection, since if I were, something would have come from nothing. 
B)  the well-ordered character of the world proves a posteriori that the Author of Nature is somewhat similar to the mind of man. 
C)  revealed truth, together with philosophical skepticism, is the only sound basis for being a believer. 
D)  the world was created by many wicked gods over a long time, during which they slowly gained skill in the art of world making.

Question 5

According to Hume, what is the origin of our ideas? How does this view serve him in his critique of what he calls "superstition"?

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to Hume, what is the origin...

Question 6

Can God's existence be proved?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Can God's existence be proved?...

Question 7

Compare Descartes and Hume on what can be known, and how it can be known.

Accepted Answer

Descartes and Hume had different perspec

Question 8

Hume adopts Newton's motto, "frame no hypotheses," in order to

Accepted Answer

A)  restrict the foundations of our knowledge to innate ideas alone. 
B)  avoid criticism by the defenders of traditional religion. 
C)  construct a science of human nature on the basis of the facts. 
D)  defend religion from its attackers. 
A)  restrict the foundations of our knowledge to innate ideas alone. 
B)  avoid criticism by the defenders of traditional religion. 
C)  construct a science of human nature on the basis of the facts. 
D)  defend religion from its attackers.

Question 9

When Hume says that "all events seem entirely loose and separate," he means to imply that

Accepted Answer

A)  our experience of events is not to be trusted. 
B)  there is no necessary connection to be observed among them. 
C)  you can't really rely on anything. 
D)  there is no constant conjunction of events to be discovered in the world. 
A)  our experience of events is not to be trusted. 
B)  there is no necessary connection to be observed among them. 
C)  you can't really rely on anything. 
D)  there is no constant conjunction of events to be discovered in the world.

Question 10

In area after area, Hume is busy trying to convince us of the limitations of reason. Discuss how he goes about this with regard to causality, God, and morality.

Accepted Answer

In his philosophical works, David Hume p

Question 11

Explain how Hume thinks the necessity of actions (that they have causes) is compatible with the fact of liberty in actions (that we sometimes act freely).

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain how Hume thinks the necessity of...

Question 12

Hume's view of the idea of the self is that it

Accepted Answer

A)  correctly represents what makes me the same person today as yesterday. 
B)  is founded on an impression of a simple, unchanging substance. 
C)  is a fiction. 
D)  is like a theater in being the permanent, unchanging thing that contains the ever-changing performance. 
A)  correctly represents what makes me the same person today as yesterday. 
B)  is founded on an impression of a simple, unchanging substance. 
C)  is a fiction. 
D)  is like a theater in being the permanent, unchanging thing that contains the ever-changing performance.

Question 13

How does Hume explain our judgment that a certain action is bad or wrong or vicious? In what do we find the viciousness of a vicious action?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How does Hume explain our judgment that...

Question 14

The idea of cause and effect, Hume thinks,

Accepted Answer

A)  is one of those a priori clear and distinct ideas that we can rely on in proving the existence of things that are the external causes of our ideas. 
B)  embodies no idea of necessary connection between cause and effect. 
C)  is based on our experience of constant conjunctions between pairs of events. 
D)  provides the bridge that gets us to things as they really are, independent of our impressions of them. 
A)  is one of those a priori clear and distinct ideas that we can rely on in proving the existence of things that are the external causes of our ideas. 
B)  embodies no idea of necessary connection between cause and effect. 
C)  is based on our experience of constant conjunctions between pairs of events. 
D)  provides the bridge that gets us to things as they really are, independent of our impressions of them.

Question 15

"Enlightenment," according to Kant, means

Accepted Answer

A)  relying only on the light of nature. 
B)  emergence from self-imposed immaturity. 
C)  a capacity to empty the mind and receive divine light. 
D)  having a book to serve as your understanding. 
A)  relying only on the light of nature. 
B)  emergence from self-imposed immaturity. 
C)  a capacity to empty the mind and receive divine light. 
D)  having a book to serve as your understanding.

Question 16

In what sense is the idea of causation a fiction for Hume?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In what sense is the idea of...

Question 17

What kind of skepticism does Hume approve of? And what kind does he not approve of?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What kind of skepticism does Hume approve...

Question 18

Value or moral judgments, according to Hume,

Accepted Answer

A)  are matters of fact and not relations of ideas. 
B)  are founded on sentiment or feeling. 
C)  are based solely on self-interest. 
D)  can be justified only by appeal to the authority of God. 
A)  are matters of fact and not relations of ideas. 
B)  are founded on sentiment or feeling. 
C)  are based solely on self-interest. 
D)  can be justified only by appeal to the authority of God.

Question 19

David Hume, prince of empiricists, thinks that

Accepted Answer

A)  a science of human nature along Newtonian lines will be a strong defense against superstition. 
B)  when we have an idea we are suspicious of, we should try to deduce it from an a priori principle. 
C)  the succession of ideas in our minds is a result of necessary connections among them. 
D)  our knowledge of causality is a matter of the relations of ideas. 
A)  a science of human nature along Newtonian lines will be a strong defense against superstition. 
B)  when we have an idea we are suspicious of, we should try to deduce it from an a priori principle. 
C)  the succession of ideas in our minds is a result of necessary connections among them. 
D)  our knowledge of causality is a matter of the relations of ideas.

Question 20

With regard to skepticism, Hume thinks that

Accepted Answer

A)  a mitigated skepticism is a useful hedge against dogmatism and superstition. 
B)  the skepticism of Descartes' first meditation strikes just the right note. 
C)  once you go down the skeptical path, there is no recovery into a normal life. 
D)  all human knowledge is just sophistry and illusion. 
A)  a mitigated skepticism is a useful hedge against dogmatism and superstition. 
B)  the skepticism of Descartes' first meditation strikes just the right note. 
C)  once you go down the skeptical path, there is no recovery into a normal life. 
D)  all human knowledge is just sophistry and illusion.

Exam 18: Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley: Materialism and the Beginnings of Empiricism

Compare Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume on our knowledge of ourselves.

Hume thinks we can have both modern science and human freedom. This is because

What is Hume's view about the self or soul?

With regard to the existence of God, Hume says that

According to Hume, what is the origin of our ideas? How does this view serve him in his critique of what he calls "superstition"?

Can God's existence be proved?

Compare Descartes and Hume on what can be known, and how it can be known.

Hume adopts Newton's motto, "frame no hypotheses," in order to

When Hume says that "all events seem entirely loose and separate," he means to imply that

In area after area, Hume is busy trying to convince us of the limitations of reason. Discuss how he goes about this with regard to causality, God, and morality.

Explain how Hume thinks the necessity of actions (that they have causes) is compatible with the fact of liberty in actions (that we sometimes act freely).

Hume's view of the idea of the self is that it

How does Hume explain our judgment that a certain action is bad or wrong or vicious? In what do we find the viciousness of a vicious action?

The idea of cause and effect, Hume thinks,

"Enlightenment," according to Kant, means

In what sense is the idea of causation a fiction for Hume?

What kind of skepticism does Hume approve of? And what kind does he not approve of?

Value or moral judgments, according to Hume,

David Hume, prince of empiricists, thinks that

With regard to skepticism, Hume thinks that

Before Philosophy: Myth in Hesiod and Homer

Philosophy Before Socrates

Appearance and Reality in Ancient India

The Sophists: Rhetoric and Relativism in Athens

Reason and Relativism in China

Socrates: to Know Oneself

The Trial and Death of Socrates

Plato: Knowing the Real and the Good

Aristotle: The Reality of the World

Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi: Virtue in Ancient China

Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics: Happiness for the Many

Jews and Christians: Sin, Salvation, and Love

Augustine: God and the Soul

Philosophy in the Islamic World: The Great Conversation Spreads Out

Anselm and Aquinas: Existence and Essence in God and the World

From Medieval to Modern Europe

René Descartes: Doubting Our Way to Certainty

David Hume: Unmasking the Pretensions of Reason

Immanuel Kant: Rehabilitating Reason Within Strict Limits

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Taking History Seriously

Kierkegaard and Marx: Two Ways to Correct Hegel

Moral and Political Reformers: The Happiness of All, Including Women

Friedrich Nietzsche: The Value of Existence

The Pragmatists: Thought and Action

Ludwig Wittgenstein: Linguistic Analysis and Ordinary Language

Martin Heidegger: The Meaning of Being

Simone De Beauvoir: Existentialist, Feminist

Postmodernism: Derrida, Foucault, and Rorty

Physical Realism and the Mind: Quine, Denne

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