1. In sections 5–6 of Hume's "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding," he concludes that
nature (i.e. the things that happen around us) will always win a battle with philosophy. He argues
that we reason not because of cause and effect, but because of custom or habit. David Hume
explains that if a person who has no prior knowledge of cause and effect is brought into this
world, that he/she will be able to see that one event follows another. If a person is able to find this
information without the knowledge of cause and effect, then cause and effect cannot be how we
reason. In order for us to reason, Hume argues that we have to see something over and over. He
calls this process the principle of custom. With this principle, we are able to see
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2. I would like to begin by giving a little background on the philosopher John Locke. Locke was born
on August 28, 1632 near the city of Pensford in England and was educated at Westminster School
in London in 1647 . After extensive reading and learning Locke began writing a number of
different philosophical treatises and essays from about 1680 through 1699 and then spent the rest
of his life in quite reflection . The work of Locke's that we will be looking at for the purpose this
paper is his book, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, and more specifically chapter twenty
one that discusses his notion of power. I would like to accomplish two things in this paper. First
thing is to use this chapter and commentaries to explore when Locke states that power is when the
mind, "informed by the senses," is aware of and reflects on changes that are internal to the self
and external to the object relating to the senses . Locke then continues that there are two ways to
look at power, first is the power to make changes and second is the power to be a receiver of changes
. This is Locke's notion of power in a simplistic form that I agree with and I will attempt to
simplify his complex arguments to make them a little more clear and direct. Second thing I
would like to do is to bring to light some of Locke's errors in the consideration of pleasure and pain
according to motivation and morality of the will. Locke's goal for happiness in life is to avoid pain
and prolong pleasure
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3. John Locke: Human Understanding Essay
When considering knowledge, Locke is interested in the ability for us to know something, the
capacity of gathering and using information and understanding the limits of what we know. He
believes this also leads him to realise what we perhaps, cannot know. [1] He wants to find out about
the origin of our ideas. His main stand–point is that we don't have innate ideas and he aims to get rid
of the sceptical doubt about what we know. The innate ideas which Locke sets out to argue against
are those which "the soul receives in its very first being, and brings into the world with it". [2] "Let
us suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters". [3] This quote depicts the
idea of the "Tabula Rasa", that at birth are minds...show more content...
The problem he has with us thinking like this is that all sorts of things would end up being defined
as innate. Locke thought that we had the capacity to recognise "self evident" truths and that we do
have an innate capacity allowing us to recognise things, however they are not actually innate ideas
within us, but ideas we gain from experience which our innate capacity allows us to understand. He
was of the opinion that ideas are material of thinking and that there was no thinking before
perception. While the mind has the capacity to think, it is not actually constantly thinking. For
example, if you are asleep but not dreaming, then according to Locke, your mind isn't actually
thinking.
All ideas we experience derive from sensations and perception. Sensation obviously uses the
bodily senses to receive ideas, whereas reflection uses the body's own procedures to receive ideas
like thinking, believing and doubting. [4] Both of these processes are passive. The corpuscular
hypothesis, which Locke expanded on from Boyle's original thoughts, seems to suggest that
everything in existence are colourless, tasteless, soundless and odourless corpuscles of matter. By
looking at the bits of matter and their motions, it is possible for us to explain the sensations we gain
from primary and secondary
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4. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Locks purpose was to stimulate others to think for themselves, and what he had to say was intended
as a means toward that end. Locke says that there is neither principle nor ideas are innate as there is
no principle that everyone can attend to. Locks claims, there is no universal consent. Universal
consent proves nothing innate. In An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke is
aimed mainly to outline the step of intellectual development, mainly in Europe and America, since
publication in 1690. In the history of philosophy this book is a major work and uses an empiricist
approach towards the investigation of philosophy. Locks empiricist approach uses some amount of
pessimism which looks on mankind ability to acquire knowledge. Locks had views about central
issues which emerge from modern scientific conception of the physical world.
Locks claims, there is no universal consent. Universal consent proves nothing innate. He criticizes
Descartes claim and went on to attract of Aristotelian Science. Locke in his view...show more
content...
According to Locke, ideas are derive from experience. His main argument in this Book is to argue
against the idea that there is some knowledge that arises prior to experience, that is, the idea that
some of our ideas or knowledge is in born or natural. While his attack on the theory that human
beings are born knowing certain things, Locke explains this could be in two forms. These forms
are theory about principle or about ideas. Book 1 first three chapters are about Locke focusing on
principles. Three of his goals are in Book I. They are: to discover where our ideas come from, to
ascertain what it means to have these ideas and what an idea essentially is, and to examine issues of
faith and opinion to determine how we should proceed logically when our knowledge
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5. In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume explained two fundamental types
of knowledge: Relations of ideas and matters of fact. The relation of ideas is by analyzing and
pondering anoint the relations of ideas. The matter of fact is a rational nature that does not require
the input of sense data such as economics, geometry, algebra, and arithmetic. Hume believes that
from the past experiences, we can predict what is going to happen in the future. For example,
when we we drop the pen, the pen falls. No matter how many times we repeat this action, we see
the pen falling. So every time we drop the pen, we expect it to fall. In the ancient time, people do
not know about the law of the physics and gravity. People observes and learn from the experiences to
know how one action cause then another actions. They didn't understand why, but it's just a habit
and what happened agin and agin. That's why Hume thinks that we can not understand how the
world works only by...show more content...
He thinks that there are events that happens uncaused that belongs to immanent cause event which is
in the agents brain. This uncaused events then continue to cause a series of events according to
transeunt causation. However, Hume criticize that if the event in the persons brain is uncaused, then
the event just happened. So Hume is questioning that Hume's immanent causation is an event
happened when a person say the words An agent caused the event to happen. Chisholm will respond
Hume that he didn't understand what he said about causation. He would tell Hume that what his
argument is saying that when the two things happened, Hume make a connection to these two
things. Chisholm thinks it is wrong to say the second event is caused by the first event when the first
thing happened and then the second thing happened. He thinks that only we understand our own
causal efficacy as agent, that we can understand the concept of
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7. In Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke gives an overview on the debate
between rationalism and empiricism in the context of cognitive culture. Locke starts his arguments
by rejecting the materialist and the theological knowledge and focuses on "the original, certainty, and
extent of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion, and assent."
To Locke, knowledge is the ability to think and know and the only way to obtain knowledge is
through one's experiences and reflection. He also states that in order for man to understand the
"extent", man has to realize what they cannot know and examine things that are beyond man's
limited capabilities. By using the assumption of cognitive transparency,...show more content...
Locke believes that " to say that a notion is imprinted on the mind, and ya at the same time to say the
mind is ignorant of it is to make this impression" . One can question "Why thoughts perceived as
not conscious are not possible?" The reasoning behind this question is innate maxims should be
seen in the opposite way. So, if innate maxims existed, they would be more obvious in children
than in adults. At a young age, children listen to their parents and older people because they want
to be known as obedient and good. They also have a difficult time to distinguish what is right or
good. Once they are exposed to the world and grow older, they make their own decisions based
their experiences and culture. For example, if a white child was exposed to racist environment in
his or her childhood, he or she is likely to believe in the stereotypes of minorities. But once the
same child grows, he or she is later exposed to other minorities, understand other minorities' point of
views, and finally decide to become friends with other minorities. Overall, innate ideas are the result
of observed
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8. David Hume wrote Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding in 1748, right in the middle of the
Enlightenment and on the eve of the Industrial and Scientific Revolution. So it only makes sense
that some of the ideas and comparisons used are slightly outdated, but science, if anything, helps his
argument regarding causality. Hume is ultimately concerned with the origins of causality, how we
are able to gain knowledge from causality, and if we can even call the knowledge derived from
causality real knowledge. This is essentially the problem of induction, and is a central pillar of
Hume's overall philosophy. There are some significant objections to Hume's ideas concerning
causality, but they do not hold much clout and are no match for his...show more content...
Therefore, it can be asserted that knowledge gained from causality is not a priori, rather a
posteriori, which is knowledge gained from experience and empirical evidence. One objection to
Hume's definition of causality was written by a fellow (omit) named Thomas Reid. His problem
with Hume's definition was that it led to absurd conclusions. The example Reid uses is one of
night and day. Reid asserts that if one follows Hume's definition of cause, then one can postulate
that day is the cause of night, and night is the cause of day, which goes on forever and is circular.
Thus, by Reid's account, the definition of cause is absurd, and cannot hold (sp) any value. This
cannot be further from the truth. Reid's example is severely (sp) lacking in rational thinking, but
one cannot blame him too much due to the time period in which he resided. omit in. The fact of
the matter is that day is not the cause of night, nor is night the cause of day. As the Earth rotates
on its axis, half of the Earth is bathed in the Sun's light, while the other half is in darkness. This is
always the case, even as the Earth spins. Thus the Sun is the cause of both day and night, not day
the cause of night and vice versa. Reid's objection now has very little ground to stand on, and it is
made even more apparent when one considers certain Alaskan towns, which depending on the
season, can experience more than 24 hours of night at a time. It is by
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9. I believe what we can touch has to be real. We as humans can argue on and on, even coming to
conclusion that everything in our realm is a complete illusion, that in fact we are all completely
somewhere else in time. We may not be physically able to touch as our advancement in technology
has not gone nearly far enough for us to reach something, for example, such as Mars or Pluto, but if
its a possibility that we predict one day we can physically touch the soils of these far planets, then it
can be established that these planets must be real.
He believes that species and the genera of things are real, but what can be confusing is how he
defines the real. In December of 1689 John Locke wrote, "An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding" in which he defines the technical term of real essence. A real essence is...show more
content...
Something has always existed, he states that the fact that we exist and are conscience thinkers is a
proof that a higher being is there. Something exists now; if nothing else, each person can be sure that
he himself exists. We intuitively believe that it is impossible for something to "come from" that is,
to be temporally preceded by nothing. Therefore, since something exists now, there never was a time
when nothing at all existed. Something has always existed
As we presented earlier in the year, I believe that we can only perceive reality as they come to us
through our senses. Every person experiences different experiences through different senses in our
sensory systems. God is different, I chose to see the proofs of God through small acts, possibly
miracles.
As an Empiricist, Locke was committed to the idea that there were no such things as innate ideas and
that the best, indeed the only way, to come to know objective truth was via sensory experience.The
only way to come to know the world is through sensory experience. He would agree with St. Thomas
Aquinas that, nothing is in the mind without first having been in the
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10. PHL100CS3 Mohtadi Section 7 of Hume's An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding evaluates
the concept of causation and "necessary connexion." Hume comes to the conclusion that because
human beings are incapable of perceiving the "necessary connexion" in cause and effect
relationships, "cause" is nothing but the "idea" or impression of power or action. To illustrate his
argument, the philosopher relies on his definitions of (1) impressions (immediate sensory
perceptions) and (2) ideas (recollections of impressions that build upon each other and increase in
complexity.) Over the course of the section, Hume attempts to prove that no impression exists that
would suggest a connection or power between two objects/events. Thus, the "causation" apparent is
formed of our expectation that one event will follow the other; in reality, human beings lack the
capacity to perceive connection between two entities....show more content...
Hume raises the example of one billiard ball provoking motion in another ball. While the movement
of the second ball consistently follows it's collision with the first, "there is [nothing] which can
suggest the idea of power." (103) The mind may observe relationships and action, but the connecting
power is imperceptible; cause and effect to a human being are nothing but correlating
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11. David Hume, a Scottish philosopher who lived from 1711–1776, was a very persuasive empiricist.
David Hume is recognized for his famous book The History of England. In another one of Hume's
books, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume describes his skepticism towards
knowledge. Hume is correct in saying that knowledge beyond our immediate experience is
questionable and can be a topic of skepticism. However, Hume's skepticism is not worrisome
because without one's questionable beliefs, living would not be nearly as enjoyable. In Hume's An
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, he claims that knowledge comes from sensory
experiences. He calls these experiences impressions. He then describes ideas as the mind's
reflections on the
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12. John Locke published in 1690 a twenty yearlong masterpiece, which ultimately becomes the
masterwork of this great philosopher, titled as An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. This
philosophical treatise took twenty years to complete when he began his work on The Easy in
1670. Locke composed The Essay in order to formulate what it is and is not likely attainable for us
to fathom and perceive. John Locke's aim was not to establish utmost certainty but to fathom the
amount of substance we can distribute to distinctive categories of knowledge. What is knowledge
according to John Locke? Locke went about answering this question by splitting up his philosophical
essay into four books, where the first three provided the infrastructure for the arguments set out in
Book IV. Do we enter this world with amind that is a blank slate or is a person born into this world
equipped with knowledge? Paramount to Locke's discourse during the whole of the Essay is the
notion that when an individual born into this world their mind is a blank slate. Locke argued that all
of our knowledge is from information one collects from the five senses – we enter this world
knowing nothing – experience is our master teacher and imparts knowledge. This is the underlying
score of empiricism that is so often contributed to Locke, a philosophical theory in contrast to
innatism – the theory that knowledge is inborn – and to rationalism where the attain knowledge of
reality through the power of reason apart
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13. In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, the idea of miracles is
introduced. Hume's argument is that there is no rational reason for human beings to believe in
miracles, and that it is wrong to have miracles as the building blocks for religion. It is because the
general notion of miracles come from the statement of others who claim to have seen them, Hume
believes that there is no way to prove that those accounts are accurate, because they were not
experienced first–hand. In order to believe a miracle, the evidence should be concrete, and
something irrefutable. When there is any sort of doubt to a miracle, Hume says that any evidence
that can be contrary to the proof of a miracle is merely evidence that the miracle did...show more
content...
In essence, any miracle that a Christian believes as fact, is something that a Muslim person would
consider hearsay, and vice versa. There is a constant battle between religions to disprove the other's
miracles, and Hume believes that none of these miracles occurred.
To Hume, it is never rational to believe in a miracle, as it is a violation of the laws of nature. For
a miracle to be believable, it must be based on testimony, and have a focus on something that can
be proven. This testimony must have evidence to justify that the miracle is in fact based on a law
of nature. For Hume, if a miracle is to be rationally accepted, the evidence to support it must be
balanced for the evidence in the natural world. Even if there is a conflicting piece of evidence for
the miracle, the conclusion must indicate that said miracle is a probable occurrence. With that
probable evidence must come absolute proof that the person who experienced the miracle was in
his or her right state of mind, was never diagnosed with a mental illness, and is a person who can
be trusted to give factual suggestions. Essentially, a miracle is possible because it is conceivable,
but in reality, there is no evidence to prove it. To properly establish his position on miracles, Hume
writes:
"no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its
falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish"
(Hume, An Enquiry
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14. Critical Reflection 4 John Locke: Essay Concerning Human Understanding David Hume: An
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Immanuel Kant: Grounding for the Metaphysics of
Morals The purpose of the passage is to discuss the reasons why Locke is right in terms of
disagreeing with the notions of innate. The way I will achieve this is by agreeing with points
made by Locke against the principles of innate. According, to the innate human beings have
specific knowledge when they are born that is they are born with some inborn knowledge. And
according to Locke's view point this is not true. He says that man gains knowledge and skills from
his experience. I also agree with him, because a newborn infant does not know how to perform
certain functions. He is fully dependent on his mother. And when he grows he learns everything
from his...show more content...
The way I will achieve this is by sharing the reasons of agreement with points made by David
Hume. His writing was not difficult to understand, he clearly mentioned the two types of
philosophical thinking and distinguished them with strong viewpoints. As stated above, I agree
with his best opposition made against the second philosophical thinking, according to him this type
of thinking is not related to science. Philosophers like, Aristotle and Locke have made their points
confusing, only some points could be related to science. In today's time everything is science so,
the points which are vague should be left and now the worth and understandable principles should
be studied carefully, as mentioned by Hume. I feel that the principles or the theories given by
philosophers which are proved correct by the science, should be encouraged. This way there would
be less to study, but will be more meaningful and significant. So, I wholeheartedly endorse what
David Hume has stated in his
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15. The Medium to Grasp the Future In Section IV of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
by David Hume, Hume provides argument that will outline that any conclusions about the future
based on past experience are limited to being just probable suppositions, because all arguments
that claim to know the future impacts of an object's "secret powers" (Hume 21) are based in
assumption. By "secret powers" (Hume 21), Hume means those abilities of an object, such as a
loaf of bread, to "support... a human body." (Hume 21) The bases for Hume's claims are in the
question he posits asking, "What is the foundation of all conclusions from experience?" (Hume 20)
In other words, Hume seeks to find the substance or grounding of conclusions that are formed...show
more content...
A means by which the barrier that separates the past from the future can be broken down thus
giving inferences or conclusions from experience grounding in reason as opposed to being just
probable statements. He goes on to provide the reason for which arguments that claim to
"foresee"(Hume 22) are limited to probability. His reasoning is that these arguments intend to prove
that the future will look like the past, yet do so by assuming that "the future will be conformable to
the past"(Hume 23) thus plaguing them with circuitous logic. (Hume 23) What Hume means is that
the point in question which is sought to be resolved, is done so by assuming that this point will hold
true, thus using the assumption that something will hold true to prove that this same thing will hold
true. Additionally, this argument's grounding in an assumption which may or may not hold true,
makes it probable due to its foundation built on a probable factor, almost like a tower built on sand.
Hume's negative argument for reasoned foresight based in experience hinges upon the claim that
these arguments lack a "medium"(Hume 22) by which the future can be shown to be conformable to
the past, stating that these arguments are based in assumptions, which make them nothing more
than probable. (Hume 20–24) This is a very strong argument by Hume because he calls for a
positive argument that provides a "medium" (Hume 22), which can perform the vital task of
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16. In Hume's 1748 publication: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding , Section 10 is titled Of
Miracles. This section is an extended argument against the veracity of miracles. In response to Hume,
Richard Price published Four Dissertations in 1768. In Dissertation IV, The Importance of
Christianity, the Nature of Historical Evidence and Miracles, Price outlines a Bayesian argument
against Hume's conclusions that miracles cannot ever occur.
My thesis is that Price's Bayesian argument, arguably the first use of Bayes' Theorem to challenge
another published argument fails. It fails on three fronts: it mischaracterizes Hume's argument as
non–conditional; it improperly employs a Bayesian model test case of newspaper reporting; and it
does not consider the effects of the preliminary seeding of probabilities for its Bayesian model of
miracles.
1.0 Hume's Argument Against Miracles
Hume's argument is multi–faceted but most commentators (Millican, Earman) agree that the key
summary occurs in paragraph 13.
The plain consequence is (and 'tis a general maxim worthy of our attention) "That no testimony is
sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be
more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish..." (E 10.13)
This first quote establishes a simple probability model of a miracle occurring (Miracle Happening:
MH) given a true testimony about that event (True Testimony: TT) and Hume argues that it must be
greater
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17. David Hume Summary To Human Understanding
An Enquiry to Human Understanding based of David Hume. David Hume tries to explain that
our awareness of causation is a product of experience. He focuses on the notion that knowledge
comes from experience. He attempts to explain the original impressions involved in causation. He
begins by distinguishing impressions and ideas. According to Hume, impressions are invoked in
our senses, emotions and anything else that is of mental phenomena. Ideas are the memories or
random thoughts that our minds connect to our impressions. There are three ways, according to
Hume, that our minds come up with ideas. These include resemblance, contiguity and cause and
effect. Matters of fact and ideas are further distinguished by Hume. He explains that the
association of ideas cannot be denied. He uses mathematical and geometrical as examples of the
relationship and association of ideas. The square of the two sides is equal to the square of the
hypotenuse. This shows the relationship of the sides to the hypotenuse. These theorem do not
require observation. There can be a contrary of ideas. This may also be its point of connection
considered a blend of causation and resemblance, according to Hume. Matters of fact are
observable. According to Hume, fact is known by observation. It is based on the relationship of
cause and effect. For instance, a man is believed to...show more content...
It explains importance and usefulness of experience. Customs spare us the ignorant we would be
engulfed in. they explain past events. Experience goes beyond memory and senses, and it explains
matters of fact. If one finds remains of the building in the desert, they will have concluded that there
was civilization in that part, but experience restricts that conclusion. The person will then try to find
evidence to support this theory. Hume then concluded that, all matters of facts can only be inferred
through a memory, senses or some connection between objects, like flame and
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18. In John Locke's, "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," he refutes the Aristotelian theory
of real essences, presenting instead a theory of nominal essences. Through investigation primarily
in Book III and partially in Book IV, I will explain his criticism of the Aristotelian (Scholastic) view
as well as his own theory, detailing the key differences and implications his claims make towards
our understanding of the essence of substances. A major distinction is that Locke believes we cannot
have real knowledge of real essences, namely, the underlying internal constitution of substantial
objects that causes observable qualities; and that our names for species and genus can only refer to
their nominal essence, namely, the abstract idea we make from observable qualities of an object.
Locke argues, that the real internal essence (an object's substantial form)...show more content...
Primary qualities are inseparable qualities such as size, shape, and weight; while secondary
qualities are qualities like colors, sounds, and smells, that are caused by the primary qualities. These
primary qualities also cause tertiary qualities, which are the qualities an object has that can change
the primary qualities of another object. Considering all of these qualities as a collection, we can
create the abstract idea of a nominal essence. We observe these qualities and then subsequently
designate a name for the substance that assigns it to a species and genus. Since we do not have the
capability to observe the internal constitutions of a substance, our nominal definitions cannot refer to
it. Any observable variations would be a cause of the internal constitutions, and so our perception of
these variations is reliant upon our abstract ideas of what they are in comparison to other things, so
that our names for them are not based on a real essence, but rather a nominal
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19. John Locke published in 1690 a twenty year long masterpiece, which ultimately becomes the
masterwork of this great philosopher, titled as An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. This
philosophical treatise took twenty years to complete when he began his work on The Easy in
1670. Locke composed The Essay in order to formulate what it is and is not likely attainable for us
to fathom and perceive. John Locke's aim was not to establish utmost certainty, but to fathom the
amount of substance we can distribute to distinctive categories of knowledge. What is knowledge
according to John Locke? Locke went about answering this question by splitting up his philosophical
essay into four books, where the first three provided the infrastructure for the arguments set out in
Book IV. Do we enter this world with amind that is a blank slate or is a person born into this world
equipped with knowledge? Paramount to Locke's discourse during the whole of the Essay is the
notion that when an individual born into this world their mind is a blank slate. Locke argued that all
of our knowledge is from information one collects from the five senses – we enter this world
knowing nothing – experience is our master teacher and imparts knowledge. This is the underlying
score of empiricism that is so often contributed to Locke, a philosophical theory in contrast to
innatism – the theory that knowledge is inborn – and to rationalism where the attain knowledge of
reality through the power of reason apart
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20. In section VIII, Part 1of his influential exploratory book "An Enquiry Concerning Human
Understanding", David Hume takes his analysis in another direction to subsequently further examine
the controversy concerning what causes mankind's actions. The dispute between mankind having
free will and mankind's actions being based off of external causes is simply a misunderstanding of
definitions, because Hume states that everyone in reality has the same opinion on this matter. To
confirm his claims, Hume commences by analyzing why it is probable for mankind to believe there
are laws within nature of which control the human body, although the implications of necessary
connection and causation originate from observations. Continuing, Hume analyzes
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