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David Hume Research Paper

658 Words3 Pages

An empiricist can be described as someone who believes that all knowledge is gained through sensory experience. Among this group of individuals is philosopher David Hume. Hume is of the belief that men should keep their heads out of the clouds when practicing philosophy and base their judgments on real world experience. Hume proposes that philosophy can be divided into two types. The first is easy and obvious philosophy which is concrete and appeals to sentiment and ethics. The second type is profound philosophy. This type focuses on abstract and often obtuse ideas that are impossible to prove. Practical Hume believes that a man should philosophize somewhere between the two types and never be placed firmly in either. Falling within the realm of profound philosophy is the study of reality or being. This is called metaphysics. Despite the arguments of philosophers before him, David …show more content…

Of the two, impressions are the more vivid. An impression is the product of an immediate experience. It can be recognized externally from the senses or internally by way of emotion. In one case of this, a girl called Sally falls off her bicycle. The pain she feels is an impression caused by external stimuli. In another case, Sally meets a boy called Jason who tells her that he loves her for the first time. The happiness she feels is an impression caused by internal stimuli. The second way the mind can conceptualize is through an idea. Ideas are mere copies of the original impressions they represent, so they are much duller. If Sally tries to recall the pain of falling off of her bicycle or the way she felt when Jason first expressed his love for her, she will experience an idea. These ideas may be clear to her, but she will never again experience the sharpness of the initial impression. Both ideas and impressions are acquired through sensory experience and support Hume's empirical

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