Reason

medicineman · #1 01-11-2008, 10:53 AM

A treatise on reason By David Hume:

David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) is an extensive investigation of the origin, nature, aims, and limits of human knowledge and understanding. Hume divides the operations of understanding into two kinds: 1) comparisons of ideas, and 2) inferences concerning matters of fact. Hume claims that all knowledge is based upon these two kinds of reasoning and that the most important relation with which understanding is concerned is the relation of cause-and-effect.
Hume argues that all ideas are originally derived from sensory perceptions, and that knowledge is ultimately based on experience rather than on reason. He claims that in order to establish the existence of an object we must either have had a sensory perception of that object or have had a sensory perception of other objects from which the existence of that object may be inferred.
According to Hume, reason alone is not sufficent to establish the existence of an object. Sensory perception of an object, either directly or indirectly, is necessary in order to prove the existence of that object. Furthermore, Hume argues that to have the idea of the existence of an object is the same as having the idea of the object itself.
Hume also contends that reason alone is not sufficient to motivate human action. Reason must excite passion and emotion if it is to have any influence on the motives or actions of the will. Hume claims that reason can prevent the expression of a passion or emotion only by exciting a contrary passion or emotion. However, reason and passion are not necessarily contradictory to each other. Reason may promote the expression of passion rather than prevent or suppress it. Reason may allow passion to provide a motivating force for moral conduct.
According to Hume, passion and reason are not contradictory to each other, unless passion is caused by a false perception of reality or is expressed in a manner that is contradictory to its own aim. Indeed, if reason is to influence moral conduct, reason must either excite a passion for a proper object or must reveal how a passion for a proper object may be expressed.
Hume emphasizes the importance of sympathy as a principle of human nature, and explains that sympathy may be a source of moral virtues. Sympathy may enable us to express concern for others, and may help us to be more aware of the feelings of others. Sympathy may also be an important factor in the development of moral understanding, and may produce a desire to promote the public good.

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