Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume Essay

The way in which a concept comes to exist in one’s mind is itself a concept worth examining. Many philosophers have looked for the origin of thought in the human mind, and many different reasons for this origin have been put forth. As a philosopher, it is only fitting that Hume would propose his own framework for human thinking. For Hume, perceptions are developed either as the understanding of the outside world, or as recollections of these events or alterations of these memories within the mind ¹. This distinction is important, as it allows Hume to differentiate perceptions as true or false notions. With this, Hume puts forward his concepts of belief and fiction. Belief is defined in perceptions that one, simply put, believes, and†¦show more content†¦#17-18). The force of a perception one has is directly tied to the reasoning that is employed as one considers the observation. Perceptions that exist in the mind are broken into two categories by Hume; these are the matters of fact and the relations of ideas (p. 25). Relations of ideas are created solely within the mind (p. 25). As one considers concepts of mathematics, such as â€Å"2+2=4,† he would think of this as a true statement. Conversely, as one thinks of creatures such as sirens or hippogriffs, the thought is disregarded as a thing of the imagination. This is because ideas in the mind are created as copies of impressions. The idea of such a simple concept in algebra would appear evident to someone, as this individual is likely to have a strong impression of the concept. However, it is unlikely or impossible for the impression of a siren to exist inside someone, and thus the idea of sirens would be weak. Here, the difference in belief and fiction is evidenced. Belief in some impression or idea comes with the force of the perception, and perceptions which hold no force are seen as fiction. While belief and fiction can be seen in relations of ideas, examining matters of fact allow s for a much deeper understanding of the concepts. While relations of ideas are conceived within the mind, matters of fact are generated through interactions with the external world. TheseShow MoreRelatedAn Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding By David Hume914 Words   |  4 PagesDavid Hume, the Scottish empiricism philosopher who endorses on all knowledge is obtained from sense-experience and he practices moderate skepticism for his entire academic life. Hume’s moderate skepticism refers to abduction today in which it means inference to the best explanation. To it another way, he means credible belief is possible and genuine knowledge could be inaccurate. 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