Humes Philosophy

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher who lived from 1711 to 1779 (Popkin 222). One
of his main theories involves how humans know a cause produces an effect. This is called
Humes Analysis of Causation to which the book Philosophy Made Simple by Richard Popkin
and Avrum Stroll provides a thoughtful explanation. The book also examines Humes
Uncertainty, Denial of Cause and how it pertains to current science, Humes Skepticism,
Nature of Experience and also the reasons why it is our Compulsion to Believe.
Hume wanted to know why humans relate one object or idea with another. This is the
principle idea of cause and effect. Human beings use cause and effect every day. On the drive to
school we determine that pressing the gas petal will cause the car to move forward. Also, driving
in excess of the speed limit might have an effect of obtaining a speeding ticket. Hume points out
that an object can be considered contiguous and prior to another without being considered its
cause. Therefore, Hume believes there is more to causation than just contiguity and succession.
To find out what is behind humans causation logic he examined two questions: For what reason
we pronounce it necessary, that everything whose existence has a beginning, should have a
cause? and Why we conclude, that such particular causes must necessarily have such particular
effects; and what is the nature of that inference we draw from the one to the other, and of the
belief we repose in it? (Popkin 244). Hume answers the former question by explaining the
imagination can separate anything and thus, they are not connected. So, cause must come from
our past experiences and observations. He answers the latter question by explaining we have a
present impression and inference. He uses an example of a detective observing a man that is
dead with a bullet in his body. The detective would naturally infer the bullet came from a gun.
He goes onto explain that cause and effect comes from our past experience of the two events

happening in succession of each other, such as fire and experiencing heat. Humes Analysis of
Causation is an extremely interesting subject that is often overlooked in modern society.
Hume had a genuine interest in understanding how human beings comprehend the future.
His concerns about Uncertainty explains his opinion on the subject. He believed that no matter
how much a person or scientist studied the laws of this universe, they could never be completely
certain about what will happen in the future. Just because it is now common scientific
knowledge that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by a force, does not mean this
will for certain be law tomorrow. He explained that our experiences are all based on the
principles of the uniformity of nature, that is, events in nature repeat themselves under similar
circumstances. Hume argues that although it appears this way to the human population, it is
impossible to know what happens in the future.
He also believed in the Denial of Cause. That we join our internal experiences with our
external one. The book explains it by using the hammer and glass example. Humans believe the
effect of hitting a hammer on glass will break the glass. But how exactly does anyone know
this? Hume argues that it is all in our minds. We think the hammer will break the glass, so to us,
it does. But there is no reason one event must follow the other, so it is completely a
psychological process (Popkin 230). Hume believes his claims align with science, and the
textbook argues it aligns with modern science as well. Hume gave an example of alcohol boiling
at 80 degrees centigrade. Just because a person puts a thermometer in the alcohol and the
thermometer reads 80 every time it boils, does not necessarily mean the two are connected.
Tomorrow alcohol could boil at 90 degrees. There is no way to prove otherwise. Many
scientists use Humes philosophies on Denial of Cause to this day.

Hume believed that humans knew nothing about the universe in what is called Humes
Complete Skepticism. He thought, All that we are aware of is a series of impressions with no
necessary relations to each other (Popkin 231). He argued that searching for an object outside
of oneself where impressions would belong results in no body or material object (Popkin
231). Popkin also explains Humes Nature of Experience. His philosophy on this subject
indicate mental habits and customs are the only basis we have for explaining the unrelated
experiences we have. Also, that other habits lead us to the idea of the self, which holds our
experiences together. He concluded that habits can and often do conflict with each other. This
leads to an internal struggle which can result in confusion and uncertainty.
The last area of study is Humes Compulsion to Believe. The foundation of this idea
implies that humans have no choice in the matter of believing. No matter what we do we
cannot avoid it. We might be able to understand that some of our beliefs are false, but we still
believe them. This concept applies to Hume as well. When he took a step away from his
studies, he determined all of his ideas are on the basis that he believes them. And he is also
obligated to believe in the uniformity of nature, the existence of external objects and in the
continuous existence of himself (Popkin 232). Although Hume did not know why, he decided it
was just human nature to believe.
Humes ideas are not as logical as Epicuruss, but are also not as extreme as Heraclituss.
He has some interesting thoughts about cause and effect in his Analysis of Causation where he
explains how observation and experience are imperative to understanding cause. His
Uncertainty theory is still undeniable to this day because no one can see the future and predict
the universes current physical laws will hold true tomorrow. Also, his ideas on Denial of

Cause and its relation to science, Skepticism, Nature of Experience and Compulsion to
Believe are interesting and help form a complete picture of causation.