David Hume: information on philosophies and basic life outline

David Hume
(1711 – 1776)

· Edinburgh University: entered at 12; left at 14 or 15
· Pressed to study law, but found it distasteful so spent time reading letters
· Nervous breakdown in 1729: took several years to recover
· 1734: reached turning point in his life, went to France for three years
· Treatise of Human Nature (1739); three books
· Objects of awareness
o All objects are either “impressions”, data of sensation or of internal consciousness, or “ideas”, which are created by the combination of impressions.
· Theory of meaning
o Word that does not stand directly for an impression has meaning only if it brings an object that can be gathered from an impression before the mind
o There are two approaches to explaining meaning: Analytical one: relations of ideas; Empirical one: matters of fact
o Only on this level of meanings is the idea of demonstrative knowledge possible. Matters of fact, however, com...