Hume- Impressions

"..that it is not absolutely impossible for ideas to arise, independent of their correspondent impressions. I believe it will readily be allowed that the several distinct ideas of colour, which enter by the eye, or those of sound, which are conveyed by the ear, are really different from each other; thought, at the same time, resembling."


Hume states in this section of the book that ideas could possibly arise while not having some sort of impression, which forces the idea upon you. Page 12 talks about the idea of color, which we discussed in class. I found the example about the shades of color to be very interesting. Hume gives an example of a color going from lightest to darkest or vice versa. He claims that a person will be able to identify if a shade is missing. He questions how people identify a missing shade when it has never really been shown to them. This example just proves the quote that I wrote above. Ideas do not just arise from impressions. Thinking about this whole topic, I started to think more in depth about ideas and the mind. I do agree with Hume when he says that ideas arise from impressions but on the other hand, I feel that the mind is very powerful. It does not mind some sort of impression to come up/think about ideas. It does it naturally

HUME- natural event and human nature

Natural Events are cause and effect relations (physics-- patterns) and humans actions are psychology of choosing (scientific-- regularity patterns).

Hume says: Pattern of cause and effect need a necessity.

Matters of fact consist of relation between cause and effect.
ex- Cause - Cue ball in motion Effect- other ball bounces

There is no way of helping what a natural event causes. But human actions are obviously controlled by what the person wants to do or thinks they should do. There are negative events that come out of cause and effect, natural events and human actions. But with the bad comes the good and there can always be a positive out come of it too.
For example: This can go for cause and effect or human actions - You study for a test and pass with an A. becaused you studied hard you recieved a high grade.

HUME- the pool ball example

Hume says causes don't resemble the fact.
ex- The game of pool: How can you tell when the balls hit eachother what is going to happen?!

You will not know what the balls will actually do until you have experienced them hitting eachother atleast once.
Before you have experienced the outcome of the observation - you cannot rule out any of the concievable outcome. All info. about cause and effect is a posteriority which is derived from the observation.

HUME- Enquiry

Missing blue problem: Different shades of blue (Lightest ----> Darkest) if a shade of blue was missing you would be able to tell it was missing.

There is also the red coke can example. The red on every coke can is alway exactly a like. Shows we supplement color info.

This was a prob. for empiricism it is so singular- it doesnt really matter.. It is not part of any geometric pattern.

The of induction is a general conclusion from different instance.

In any kind of constant color pattern is changed we always will be able to tell there is something missing from it.

Power- Locke

"My business being not to search into the original of power, but how we come by the idea of it."

Locke writes in this section about power. An example he gives about power is "fire has the power to melt gold." I feel that both Locke and Descarte are very interested in power. They both talk about the idea of God and how he has endless power. Descarte especially has a hard time dealing with himself not being able to like God. God has endless power and I feel that power is a major issue with both Descarte and Locke. I believe that the idea of power originated from God. Descarte and Locke both believe in God but I think that they have so many questions that are unanswered so they focus their questions on the idea of power. They'll never retrieve answers to the questions they have about God, but by questioning power.. they might be able to better understand.

HUME- section 8 pt 1

-Hume begins by examining what we call necessity in physical processes. There are physical forces that cause the bodies movement. Hume says in his writings that our ideas of connection come from observations of ongoing similar events and what helps make decisions in our minds; but there is no way to see necessary connection but it cannot be observed in nature.

-Hume looks over human nature and the laws that govern our behavior. He finds that over years and observing different cultures we all have the same motives. All similar events cause similar effects. Human nature is human behavior under any actions.

-Hume explains that behaviors that don't make sence to you- there is really a motive to the person who is actually acting that way. There is a possibility it could be "hidden motive" or a "personality trait" that is not familiar to you.

Book II, Chapter IX, 5. Children, though they have ideas in the womb, have none innate

Locke explains how children are born with ideas for example hunger and warmth...These are instincts that come with birth..however when they are in the womb and experience sounds and other things...who is to say they will remember them after birth..it is said that when babies are born they recognized there parents voice...but that may only be in the womb and once they are born that goes away and they relearn things that may have been heard in the womb...Locke is saying things learned in the womb may not be carried on after birth like hunger and warmth..

Book II, Chapter X, 10. Brutes have memory

I like that Locke mention animals in this section..He says, This falculty of laying up and retaining the ideas that are brouhgt into the mind, several other animals seem to have to a great degree, as well as man... This is an example he gives- birds learining of tunes. The questions is how do we know what animals are capable of, mind wise...we dont know if they have there own way of thinking and how they use what they know..just like they dont know what we are thinking and we dont know what eachother is thinking as human beings....How does Locke know there degree of thinking is the same..he doesnt know the degree of other human beings thinking...however as humans we can test our minds and find our capabilities...but how can that be done with animals and we dont know how they think or there meanings for things....

Hume: Origin of Ideas

Hume makes distinction between impressions and ideas. Hume goes on and explains that impressions are lively and vivid perceptions, while ideas are taken from the memory or the imagination and are less likely to be lively and vivid. An example that spark notes gave for these ideas are: both the color red and the feeling of anger are considered impressions. Ideas are what come from impressions we think of or see. The example of the color red and anger are what Hume considers to be ideas.

Like I had said in my first Hume Blog- I believe Hume writes easy to follow and writes straight foward. The example with the color red associated with anger helped me understand his section with how he thought of ideas and impressions.

Hume: Solution of Doubts Part I

Human Reason is divided into 2 different kinds- Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact.

Relations of Ideas: The relations of ideas include science, geometry, algebra, and arithmitic.
ex- 3x5= half of 30 which is 15 --> this shows the relations between the numbers 3,5,15, ad 30.

Matters of Fact: deal with experience that has already happened. ex: that the sun is shining, that yesterday I went for a walk, or that it will rain tomorrow are all matters of fact.
There is usually no contradictions because they are things that you have experienced or have gone through already. Such as- if it is sunny out and you say it is raining; you will be proven wrong by just looking out side.

I find Hume's writings are a lot more straight foward and more easy to follow. I found it really easy to understand what Hume is saying especially in the "matters of fact" idea. I found his examples really helpful to understand what point he was trying to get through. That i explained under the explanations.