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Guinevere Frenzel
Professor Welch
Philosophy 1000-012
1 May 2016
Hume vs. Kant Final Paper
Two of the greatest of thinkers of the 1700s were David Hume and Immanuel Kant. They
were very different in their views of morality and reason, yet shared some similarities on basic
principles of empiricism. Kant believed that knowledge was between sensation and mind Hume
would justify that all knowledge comes from experience. In this essay I am going to show the
comparison and contrast between both of these philosophers and how much they have both
helped our society today. I will also go over the background of both Hume and Kant to show
their educational background to see both differences of both philosophers.
David Hume was born in Scotland (1711-1776). Coming from an educated background
he left school to follow philosophy. According to Philosophy Pages: Garth Kimerling Hume:
Morality and Religion, Hume defied religious beliefs and was a very skeptical individual. Many
people thought he was indeed an atheist, because of his firm belief in the certainty of science.
However, he was actually agnostic. Which meant: someone who believes that nothing is known
or can be known of the existence or nature of God. His main focus was directed to moral
judgment, reason and rationalism, empiricism and the certainty of science. Within the class, we
were able to discuss the Bundled Theory of the Self, which emphasizes that there is no fixed
self. More or less, it is a bundle of perceptions. The person that you are is different from
yesterday. Our minds confer and identify on things, but we do not perceive it.
As for Immanuel Kant, he was born in Konigsberg, Prussia (1724-1804). A familiar quote
from Kant, The starry heaven above me, the moral law within me. Kant believed there was

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something drastically wrong with philosophy. Referring to the web article from Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Kant and Hume on Causality, He felt that the view of knowledge is
the result of the interaction between the mind and sensation. That knowledge and experience is
shaped and structured. According to Kant, phenomena is the world as we experience it while
noumena are the reality as it is. Kant was also known as the Universalist. He emphasizes that the
self, the cosmos, and God are universal ideas to regulate human understanding.
In Humean Skepticism, there is no certainty in life, but that there is certainty in science.
He claims that there is only enough uniformity to live reasonably well. When it comes down to
logic and reason, Hume feels that it has nothing to do with anything. We see events that go
together, but there is no necessity. In regards to the limits of science, Hume uses inductive
reasoning, proceeding from particular to the general. Some to all if you will. Just because we
expect the sun to set and then rise, we cannot prove it will. His limits of theology consist that
human experience cannot provide enough of order on Earth, much less, the order of the universe.
He insisted that morality is grounded by sentiment, not reason. That vice and virtue can compare
to color, shape, and/ or the flavor of ice cream. They are just preferences. For example, killing is
bad, but it is acceptable to Osama Bin Laden. These are all aspects of human nature.
Kantian Formalism, on the other hand, is the view that knowledge is the result of the
interaction between the mind and sensation. According to Kant, the only good thing in the world
is good will. Actions that are considered moral are entirely a matter of reason and good will,
not a matter of consequences or actions. Kant says, Good actions that lack good will are not
moral. Meaning if we do the right action for the wrong reason, it is immoral. However, if the
reason is good, then it is deemed good.

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Kant was inspired by The Enlightenment he put faith in the control of reason and he found
truth to be the key to moving forward in humanity, counting morality. He believed moral
philosophy need to be grounded in a prior principle where someone can derive in reason. Kant
thought that an ethical system should be made on only reason by itself and that would provide
the basis for rules which would be morally accepted by everyone. Kant claimed that it must pass
a test of universality where an action would only be considered moral only if it would have
passed for all to take the action. He called it the Categorical Imperative. What the Categorical
Imperative was is the central philosophical idea in the deontological moral philosophy of
Immanuel Kant. It was first introduced in 1785 Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, it
may be defined as a way to evaluate motivations for an action. To Kant, a person can occupy a
special place in creation, and morality can be defined as an imperative, or commandment of
reason. He believed an imperative as any idea declaring an action to be a necessity.
However, Hume provided Kant with a heteronomous theory, that is the ethical theory that says
acting in accordance with emotion rather than using reason. Humes idea was empiricism.
Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge came from a sense of experience or wisdom. From
empiricism, Hume thought the reason was a slave to the passion, and that morality was made
through emotions because emotions provide a moral inspiration to do morally accepted good
actions. This was the contrast that Kant believed that our actions should be based on our duty to
do what is morally correct. Kant disagreed that emotion was not a basis for morality, he
considered it to be a weaker base than reason. Kant emphasized moral laws were fair. I found
this to be interesting because in our group project that we did prior to this paper we talked about
morality. It showed me that in this argument between Kant and Hume that morality and reason
play a big part in how we function in society today, its impacted how we think and function as a

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human being. Its helped us with our emotions and how we can control them with the way we
think and how we should clear our minds before we make decisions.
Religion was definitely a controversial topic between Hume and Kant. Hume never gave
any credit or give any belief in miracles, because he held true to the undeviating laws of nature.
He claims that sensible influences cannot direct us to divinity. According to the Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy- David Hume: Religion. Hume would question how can there be a
God when there are so much suffering and inconsistency. That if God is all good, how can he
allows this: the problem of evil. In contrast, Kant was interested in the concept of God. God in
standings in arguments and principles of that had been structured by the abstract systems
Although, religion was not the basis of this philosophy, it was something that was definitely
considered in his works and beliefs. It impacted a lot of his works in philosophy.
With the many differences that each of these two great philosophers stand by, they were
able to give more depth and insight to the way of thinking and understanding we may see and use
today. Some would claim that physical evidence and facts, alongside with standing with the
absolute laws of nature would hold true to ones values. However, some must have an
explanation for the many things in this world and recognize that a higher power may be
involved. But, Hume provided Kant with a heteronomous theory, that is the ethical theory that
says acting in accordance with emotion rather than using reason. Kant was able to shape his
philosophy and mold it to his vices and virtues. I found doing this paper very enjoyable, it was
interesting to see how much impact an idea in the 1700s could do. Kant and Humes idea very
much shaped our societies today, without the idea of morality and emotions we could not be
where we are today. This very much opened my eyes to how much philosophy has an influence

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in out worlds. Its more than just an idea that we think philosophy runs through how we breathe,
eat, think, function, and much more. It was a great way to empower my ideas about philosophy.

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Work Cited
Pasternack, Lawrence. "Kant's Philosophy of Religion." Stanford University. Stanford University, 22
June 2004. Web. 02 May 2016.
Lorkowski, C. M. "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.
Pierris, Graciela De. "Kant and Hume on Causality." Stanford University. Stanford University, 04 June
2008. Web. 02 May 2016.
"Kant vs Hume." Philosophy Philosophers. Theophil, 20 May 2012. Web. 02 May 2016.
"Kant versus Hume on the Necessary Connection." Philosophy Now. Stuart Greenstreet, 2005. Web.
02 May 2016.