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Single Idea 2202

[filed under theme 14. Science / C. Induction / 3. Limits of Induction ]

Full Idea

It is certain that the most ignorant and stupid peasants - nay infants, nay even brute beasts - improve by experience.

Clarification

Examples to show that induction is not rational

Gist of Idea

Fools, children and animals all learn from experience

Source

David Hume (Enquiry Conc Human Understanding [1748], IV.II.33)

Book Ref

Hume,David: 'Enquiries Conc. Human Understanding, Morals', ed/tr. Selby-Bigge/Nidditch [OUP 1975], p.39

The 217 ideas from David Hume

3661 'Natural beliefs' are unavoidable, whatever our judgements [Hume, by Strawson,G]
3902 Hume mistakenly lumps sensations and perceptions together as 'impressions' [Scruton on Hume]
6350 Premises can support an argument without entailing it [Pollock/Cruz on Hume]
8344 At first Hume said qualities are the causal entities, but later he said events [Hume, by Davidson]
15249 Hume never shows how a strong habit could generate the concept of necessity [Harré/Madden on Hume]
8339 Hume's regularity theory of causation is epistemological; he believed in some sort of natural necessity [Hume, by Strawson,G]
4636 All reasoning concerning matters of fact is based on analogy (with similar results of similar causes) [Hume]
13602 We cannot form an idea of a 'power', and the word is without meaning [Hume]
8422 Cause is where if the first object had not been, the second had not existed [Hume]
17712 General ideas are the connection by resemblance to some particular [Hume]
2182 Impressions are our livelier perceptions, Ideas the less lively ones [Hume]
23631 Hume is loose when he says perceptions of different strength are different species [Reid on Hume]
2183 We can only invent a golden mountain by combining experiences [Hume]
2184 All ideas are copies of impressions [Hume]
2185 The idea of an infinite, intelligent, wise and good God arises from augmenting the best qualities of our own minds [Hume]
2186 We cannot form the idea of something we haven't experienced [Hume]
23421 If a person had a gap in their experience of blue shades, they could imaginatively fill it in [Hume]
2187 If we suspect that a philosophical term is meaningless, we should ask what impression it derives from [Hume]
2189 All ideas are connected by Resemblance, Contiguity in time or place, and Cause and Effect [Hume]
3662 Hume says we can only know constant conjunctions, not that that's what causation IS [Hume, by Strawson,G]
2190 All objects of enquiry are Relations of Ideas, or Matters of Fact [Hume]
2191 Relations of ideas are known by thought, independently from the world [Hume]
2192 All reasoning about facts is causal; nothing else goes beyond memory and senses [Hume]
2194 How could Adam predict he would drown in water or burn in fire? [Hume]
2193 No causes can be known a priori, but only from experience of constant conjunctions [Hume]
2196 The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy [Hume]
2195 We can discover some laws of nature, but never its ultimate principles and causes [Hume]
2197 Reason assists experience in discovering laws, and in measuring their application [Hume]
2198 We assume similar secret powers behind similar experiences, such as the nourishment of bread [Hume]
3598 Hume just shows induction isn't deduction [Williams,M on Hume]
2200 All experimental conclusions assume that the future will be like the past [Hume]
2199 Reason cannot show why reliable past experience should extend to future times and remote places [Hume]
2702 Only madmen dispute the authority of experience [Hume]
2201 Induction can't prove that the future will be like the past, since induction assumes this [Hume]
2202 Fools, children and animals all learn from experience [Hume]
2203 If we infer causes from repetition, this explains why we infer from a thousand objects what we couldn't infer from one [Hume]
2204 All inferences from experience are effects of custom, not reasoning [Hume]
2205 You couldn't reason at all if you lacked experience [Hume]
2206 Reasons for belief must eventually terminate in experience, or they are without foundation [Hume]
2208 Belief is just a particular feeling attached to ideas of objects [Hume]
2207 Belief can't be a concept plus an idea, or we could add the idea to fictions [Hume]
2209 Belief is stronger, clearer and steadier than imagination [Hume]
8544 Hume does not distinguish real resemblances among degrees of resemblance [Shoemaker on Hume]
2210 A picture of a friend strengthens our idea of him, by resemblance [Hume]
2211 When I am close to (contiguous with) home, I feel its presence more nearly [Hume]
2212 An object made by a saint is the best way to produce thoughts of him [Hume]
2213 Beliefs are built up by resemblance, contiguity and causation [Hume]
2214 Our awareness of patterns of causation is too important to be left to slow and uncertain reasoning [Hume]
2215 There is no such thing as chance [Hume]
2216 We transfer the frequency of past observations to our future predictions [Hume]
8341 Hume never even suggests that there is no such thing as causation [Hume, by Strawson,G]
2217 When definitions are pushed to the limit, only experience can make them precise [Hume]
2218 In observing causes we can never observe any necessary connections or binding qualities [Hume]
2220 Only experience teaches us about our wills [Hume]
4771 In both of Hume's definitions, causation is extrinsic to the sequence of events [Psillos on Hume]
5194 Hume's definition of cause as constantly joined thoughts can't cover undiscovered laws [Ayer on Hume]
2221 A cause is either similar events following one another, or an experience always suggesting a second experience [Hume]
2222 The doctrine of free will arises from a false sensation we have of freedom in many actions [Hume]
2223 Liberty is merely acting according to the will, which anyone can do if they are not in chains [Hume]
2225 If you deny all necessity and causation, then our character is not responsible for our crime [Hume]
2226 Repentance gets rid of guilt, which shows that responsibility arose from the criminal principles in the mind [Hume]
2224 Praise and blame can only be given if an action proceeds from a person's character and disposition [Hume]
3655 Hume makes determinism less rigid by removing the necessity from causation [Trusted on Hume]
10328 We think testimony matches reality because of experience, not some a priori connection [Hume]
2228 All experience must be against a supposed miracle, or it wouldn't be called 'a miracle' [Hume]
2227 A miracle violates laws which have been established by continuous unchanging experience, so should be ignored [Hume]
2229 To establish a miracle the falseness of the evidence must be a greater miracle than the claimed miraculous event [Hume]
2230 Good testimony needs education, integrity, motive and agreement [Hume, by PG]
2232 You can't infer the cause to be any greater than its effect [Hume]
2233 No government has ever suffered by being too tolerant of philosophy [Hume]
4772 If a singular effect is studied, its cause can only be inferred from the types of events involved [Hume]
2234 It is only when two species of thing are constantly conjoined that we can infer one from the other [Hume]
2235 There is no certain supreme principle, or infallible rule of inference [Hume]
2236 Examples of illusion only show that sense experience needs correction by reason [Hume]
2237 It never occurs to people that they only experience representations, not the real objects [Hume]
2238 Reason can never show that experiences are connected to external objects [Hume]
2239 If secondary qualities (e.g. hardness) are in the mind, so are primary qualities like extension [Hume]
7700 We can't think about the abstract idea of triangles, but only of particular triangles [Hume]
2240 It is a very extravagant aim of the sceptics to destroy reason and argument by means of reason and argument [Hume]
2241 The main objection to scepticism is that no good can come of it [Hume]
2242 Mitigated scepticism draws attention to the limitations of human reason, and encourages modesty [Hume]
2243 Mitigated scepticism sensibly confines our enquiries to the narrow capacity of human understanding [Hume]
2246 If books don't relate ideas or explain facts, commit them to the flames [Hume]
2245 A priori it looks as if a cause could have absolutely any effect [Hume]
2244 It can never be a logical contradiction to assert the non-existence of something thought to exist [Hume]
3919 Conclusions of reason do not affect our emotions or decisions to act [Hume]
3918 Moral philosophy aims to show us our duty [Hume]
23560 If we all naturally had everything we could ever desire, the virtue of justice would be irrelevant [Hume]
3920 If you equalise possessions, people's talents will make them unequal again [Hume]
3921 The safety of the people is the supreme law [Hume]
3922 Justice only exists to support society [Hume]
3925 Personal Merit is the possession of useful or agreeable mental qualities [Hume]
3926 The human heart has a natural concern for public good [Hume]
3929 No moral theory is of any use if it doesn't serve the interests of the individual concerned [Hume]
3928 Virtue just requires careful calculation and a preference for the greater happiness [Hume]
3927 Society prefers helpful lies to harmful truth [Hume]
3923 No one would cause pain to a complete stranger who happened to be passing [Hume]
3924 Nature makes private affections come first, because public concerns are spread too thinly [Hume]
21094 There are two kinds of right - to power, and to property [Hume]
21095 It is an exaggeration to say that property is the foundation of all government [Hume]
20705 That events could be uncaused is absurd; I only say intuition and demonstration don't show this [Hume]
4579 The idea of a final cause is very uncertain and unphilosophical [Hume]
4580 All virtues benefit either the public, or the individual who possesses them [Hume]
4581 Virtues and vices are like secondary qualities in perception, found in observers, not objects [Hume]
7636 It can't be more rational to believe in natural laws than miracles if the laws are not rational [Ishaq on Hume]
6957 The objects of theological reasoning are too big for our minds [Hume]
6960 Analogy suggests that God has a very great human mind [Hume]
6958 How can we pronounce on a whole after a brief look at a very small part? [Hume]
6959 We can't assume God's perfections are like our ideas or like human attributes [Hume]
6961 An analogy begins to break down as soon as the two cases differ [Hume]
6962 The thing which contains order must be God, so see God where you see order [Hume]
6965 The universe may be the result of trial-and-error [Hume]
6964 From our limited view, we cannot tell if the universe is faulty [Hume]
21281 This excellent world may be the result of a huge sequence of trial-and-error [Hume]
21283 Humans renew their species sexually. If there are many gods, would they not do the same? [Hume]
21284 This Creator god might be an infant or incompetent or senile [Hume]
21279 If the divine cause is proportional to its effects, the effects are finite, so the Deity cannot be infinite [Hume]
21282 Design cannot prove a unified Deity. Many men make a city, so why not many gods for a world? [Hume]
21280 From a ship you would judge its creator a genius, not a mere humble workman [Hume]
6963 Why would we infer an infinite creator from a finite creation? [Hume]
6966 Creation is more like vegetation than human art, so it won't come from reason [Hume]
6967 Order may come from an irrational source as well as a rational one [Hume]
21286 Motion often begins in matter, with no sign of a controlling agent [Hume]
21287 The universe could settle into superficial order, without a designer [Hume]
21288 Ideas arise from objects, not vice versa; ideas only influence matter if they are linked [Hume]
21285 Events are baffling before experience, and obvious after experience [Hume]
21256 A surprise feature of all products of 9 looks like design, but is actually a necessity [Hume]
21254 A chain of events requires a cause for the whole as well as the parts, yet the chain is just a sum of parts [Hume]
1435 If something must be necessary so that something exists rather than nothing, why can't the universe be necessary? [Hume]
21255 No being's non-existence can imply a contradiction, so its existence cannot be proved a priori [Hume]
6581 Hume thought (unlike Locke) that property is a merely conventional relationship [Hume, by Fogelin]
21097 Modern monarchies are (like republics) rule by law, rather than by men [Hume]
4677 If suicide is wrong because only God disposes of our lives, it must also be wrong to save lives [Hume]
21096 The only purpose of government is to administer justice, which brings security [Hume]
21099 People must have agreed to authority, because they are naturally equal, prior to education [Hume]
21100 The idea that society rests on consent or promises undermines obedience [Hume]
20495 We no more give 'tacit assent' to the state than a passenger carried on board a ship while asleep [Hume]
6703 Poor people lack the knowledge or wealth to move to a different state [Hume]
21101 The people would be amazed to learn that government arises from their consent [Hume]
21102 We all know that the history of property is founded on injustices [Hume]
21103 Moral questions can only be decided by common opinion [Hume]
21091 It would be absurd if even a free constitution did not impose restraints, for the public good [Hume]
21092 Nobility either share in the power of the whole, or they compose the power of the whole [Hume]
21093 Friendship without community spirit misses out on the main part of virtue [Hume]
18552 Forget about beauty; just concentrate on the virtues of delicacy and discernment admired in critics [Hume, by Scruton]
6608 Strong sense, delicate sentiment, practice, comparisons, and lack of prejudice, are all needed for good taste [Hume]
4008 Modern science has destroyed the Platonic synthesis of scientific explanation and morality [Hume, by Taylor,C]
8067 The problem of getting to 'ought' from 'is' would also apply in getting to 'owes' or 'needs' [Anscombe on Hume]
20030 If one event causes another, the two events must be wholly distinct [Hume, by Wilson/Schpall]
6692 For Hume, practical reason has little force, because we can always modify our desires [Hume, by Graham]
5548 Hume became a total sceptic, because he believed that reason was a deception [Hume, by Kant]
7446 The idea of inductive evidence, around 1660, made Hume's problem possible [Hume, by Hacking]
3819 Hume's 'bundle' won't distinguish one mind with ten experiences from ten minds [Searle on Hume]
6489 Associationism results from having to explain intentionality just with sense-data [Robinson,H on Hume]
6182 Even Hume didn't include mathematics in his empiricism [Hume, by Kant]
6526 Hume says objects are not a construction, but an imaginative leap [Hume, by Robinson,H]
11098 Momentary impressions are wrongly identified with one another on the basis of resemblance [Hume, by Quine]
19274 Hume seems to presuppose necessary connections between mental events [Kripke on Hume]
8382 For Hume a constant conjunction is both necessary and sufficient for causation [Hume, by Crane]
12048 The only meaning we have for substance is a collection of qualities [Hume]
7954 If we see a resemblance among objects, we apply the same name to them, despite their differences [Hume]
9428 Nothing we clearly imagine is absolutely impossible [Hume]
8649 Two numbers are equal if all of their units correspond to one another [Hume]
4766 Necessity only exists in the mind, and not in objects [Hume]
21291 There is no medium state between existence and non-existence [Hume]
21293 Individuation is only seeing that a thing is stable and continuous over time [Hume]
1207 Both number and unity are incompatible with the relation of identity [Hume]
21290 Multiple objects cannot convey identity, because we see them as different [Hume]
21289 'An object is the same with itself' is meaningless; it expresses unity, not identity [Hume]
21292 Saying an object is the same with itself is only meaningful over a period of time [Hume]
13424 Aristotelians propose accidents supported by substance, but they don't understand either of them [Hume]
14301 We have no good concept of solidity or matter, because accounts of them are all circular [Hume]
21296 If all of my perceptions were removed by death, nothing more is needed for total annihilation [Hume]
1321 If identity survives change or interruption, then resemblance, contiguity or causation must unite the parts of it [Hume]
1330 If a republic can retain identity through many changes, so can an individual [Hume]
21299 Changing a part can change the whole, not absolutely, but by its proportion of the whole [Hume]
21300 A change more obviously destroys an identity if it is quick and observed [Hume]
21302 If a ruined church is rebuilt, its relation to its parish makes it the same church [Hume]
21303 We accept the identity of a river through change, because it is the river's nature [Hume]
21301 The purpose of the ship makes it the same one through all variations [Hume]
1317 A person is just a fast-moving bundle of perceptions [Hume]
1331 The parts of a person are always linked together by causation [Hume]
1388 Hume gives us an interesting sketchy causal theory of personal identity [Perry on Hume]
21297 A person is simply a bundle of continually fluctuating perceptions [Hume]
1316 Introspection always discovers perceptions, and never a Self without perceptions [Hume]
1333 Memory only reveals personal identity, by showing cause and effect [Hume]
1332 We use memory to infer personal actions we have since forgotten [Hume]
21305 Memory not only reveals identity, but creates it, by producing resemblances [Hume]
21307 Who thinks that because you have forgotten an incident you are no longer that person? [Hume]
21306 Causation unites our perceptions, by producing, destroying and modifying each other [Hume]
21294 A continuous lifelong self must be justified by a single sustained impression, which we don't have [Hume]
21295 When I introspect I can only observe my perceptions, and never a self which has them [Hume]
21298 We pretend our perceptions are continuous, and imagine a self to fill the gaps [Hume]
21304 Identity in the mind is a fiction, like that fiction that plants and animals stay the same [Hume]
21806 Memory, senses and understanding are all founded on the imagination [Hume]
22374 You can only hold people responsible for actions which arise out of their character [Hume]
8257 Reason alone can never be a motive to any action of the will [Hume]
3807 Reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions [Hume]
3650 Total selfishness is not irrational [Hume]
4578 You can't move from 'is' to 'ought' without giving some explanation or reason for the deduction [Hume]
22382 We cannot discover vice by studying a wilful murder; that only arises from our own feelings [Hume]
12417 Mathematicians only accept their own proofs when everyone confims them [Hume]
11950 We have no idea of powers, because we have no impressions of them [Hume]
11949 There may well be powers in things, with which we are quite unacquainted [Hume]
11941 The distinction between a power and its exercise is entirely frivolous [Hume]
11942 Power is the possibility of action, as discovered by experience [Hume]
15755 Hume needs a notion which includes degrees of resemblance [Shoemaker on Hume]
16946 Causation is just invariance, as long as it is described in general terms [Quine on Hume]
15250 If impressions, memories and ideas only differ in vivacity, nothing says it is memory, or repetition [Whitehead on Hume]
20189 Belief is a feeling, independent of the will, which arises from uncontrolled and unknown causes [Hume]
21309 A proposition cannot be intelligible or consistent, if the perceptions are not so [Hume]
21311 Are self and substance the same? Then how can self remain if substance changes? [Hume]
21312 Perceptions are distinct, so no connection between them can ever be discovered [Hume]
21308 We have no impression of the self, and we therefore have no idea of it [Hume]
21310 Does an oyster with one perception have a self? Would lots of perceptions change that? [Hume]
5323 Experiences are logically separate, but factually linked by simultaneity or a feeling of continuousness [Ayer on Hume]
23115 We have no natural love of mankind, other than through various relationships [Hume]