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David Hume Common Sense Essay

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David Hume, one of the greatest philosophical thinkers of all time once wrote that our conclusions about matters of fact beyond observation and memory are not founded on reason. By this I take Hume to mean that we cannot obtain our knowledge of cause and effect by reasoning a priori, rather it arises from our experience. Another philosophical great, Thomas Reid, elaborates on this idea with his concept of the first principles of common sense. In the remainder of this paper I will be arguing that it is impossible to avoid Hume’s skepticism about the role of reason in our conclusion on matters of fact beyond current observation and memory by taking the principle of uniformity of nature to be a first principle of common sense. I will then explain why this is my belief and lastly I will provide what I consider to be Hume’s best response to my conclusion. …show more content…

For Hume, relations of ideas are those things that we can know a priori meaning it is a form of knowledge that arises out of pure conception and logical reasoning. Relations of ideas also represent the concept of mathematics such that “5 + 7 = 12”, a statement such as this can be know a priori and is logically sound. Similarly, ideas such as “all bachelors are unmarried” and “all islands are surrounded by water “, although unrelated to mathematics, is also logically sound and known a priori and is therefore a relation of an idea. Relations of ideas are known to be certain and denial of such an idea would be a

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Common Sense was a pamphlet written in January 1776, but not published until February 14, 1776 by Thomas Paine. This book was wrote before the Revolutionary war, and was considered one of the causes of the rebellion against Britain. This book was written from Thomas Paine's point of view as to why he felt that America for it better good should seceded from England, that being said there is a big bias that he was writing from only his perspective and what he wanted. It was written in the same time period that it represents making it a non-fiction pamphlet.

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Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” was one of the most important documents written in the period leading to America’s independence from Britain. In this pamphlet he spoke in favor of American independence. He wanted to let his fellow colonists know that it was time to stop talking about leaving the English rule, and time to take action. He spoke of how America should form a democratic republic that allowed the people to decide what rules and laws they should have. It was written in common english, for everyone, so that every one could understand it There are many things he argues for, this essay will talk about the main points of it and how it shaped America today and other important documents.

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The Pamphlet “Common Sense” written by Thomas Paine in the year 1776, was written to the peoples of America to gain knowledge of the values and perceptions of their lives within their colonies. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet allowed the American colonist to come together as a whole and obtain their independence from Britain rule. The impact that he had on the American colonies was tremendous and gave the Americans knowledgeable free will to fight for freedom and control. Paine had ideas written in the pamphlet that was clear language of inspiration to the public opinion. The style of his writing was an eye catcher to them, as it was a type of writing that was clearly analyzed with such truth all could side with.

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This essay will be discussing and analyzing the document: Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was an American founding father and very influential in the the enlightenment movement that started in 1714. Thomas Paine wrote common sense so people would begin thinking and discussing the way the British had been treating the colonies in the recent years. Paine believed that King George and the British parliament were tyrannical and that the colonies should do something about it. Common Sense appealed to many of the colonists because of the plain language Thomas Paine used.

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The pamphlet “common sense “written by Thomas Paine denounced the British Monarchy and Parliament and gave reasons and examples as to why separation from Great Britain was necessary for the ultimate good of the colonies and those that lived in it. Paine thought that though government was necessary, it did not promote unity and happiness, but because of the way men lived the creation of a governing body protected freedom and security. Paine paints a picture of a small settlement where members of that settlement would choose one person to represent their interest. The number of representatives would grow as the settlement grew. According to Paine because these representatives would live and socialize with the members of the colony they would have a common interest and support each other.

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The main purpose of the American Revolution was to become free from Britain and gain their own independence as a country. And with the help of Spain, France, and the Netherlands, colonists were able to achieve their goal and gain their independence. However, during this time, America was facing a lot of issues regarding the rights of the people living in America as well. In 1776, a man name Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet titled, “Common Sense”, where he argues that the cause of the problem was the ruling system where a king is at the top of the hierarchy and has the power to make all the important decisions, similar to the British. He, as well as other writers, claimed that American liberty was being violated and this, in a way, sparked the

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The statement “Hume takes Empiricism to its logical, most radical endpoint.” Considering his views on the “copy principle”, causation, and the self. The “copy principle” argument by Hume discusses the relationship between simple ideas and simple impressions. He believes that impressions are formed by ideas and he uses the example of a golden mountain.

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For example, if we know an event and how it operates a cause, we can infer its effects. Hume believes that you cannot make this prediction based on one experience, for you need repeated experiences of the same event following the first. According to Hume, the basis for our idea of causation is constant conjunction. I remember briefly going over Hume last year in central problems of philosophy, so this is all somewhat

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Both philosophers acknowledged that the self was integral to the origin on the knowledge. The self was the start to philosophical reflection. Although Hume did not share the belief in the existence of the self compared to Descartes, he understood humanities with it; "our propension to confound identity with relation is so great, that we are apt to imagine something unknown and mysterious connecting the parts (126) " This exemplifies that Hume is conscious of the wants and desires of humans with their mind and soul.

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