Dr. Ari Santas’ Notes on

Hume’s Enquiry I: Of the Different Species of Philosophy

A. Two Kinds of Moral Philosophy

· Hue notes two approaches to moral philosophy in his day

· Moral here, is opposed to natural

· Moral philosophy à human nature (psychology

· Natural philosophy à physics, mechanics

1) There was a practical approach, focusing on action and virtue, which was based on common sense and intuition (in the lay sense) - like an advice column

2) There was an abstract (abstruse) approach, focusing on thinking and contemplation, which was based on metaphysical principles and logically demonstrated proofs - like Descartes, Anselm

B. Their Relative Merits

· Both approaches have their merits, and both have their drawbacks

· As for the Practical:

· Since it recognizes the importance of action in our lives, it is capable of giving us concrete advice on what to do

· But since it lacks and real method other than appeal to common sense, it can only solve problems with obvious solutions

· As for the Abstract:

· Since it focuses on intelligence, and recognizes the need for method, it can tackle problems without ridiculously easy solutions

· But its lack of concern with practical affairs renders this approach inapplicable to real problems

C. A Needed Middle Ground

· The failure of the two approaches is due to the fact that both of them have too narrow of a conception of the complete human being

· Man is a rational animal, but he is also a social animal that acts in the world

· To live well, we must recognize our complete nature, not getting too caught up in any one aspect of it

· Similarly, to do well, moral philosophy must be able to capture the manifold nature of man

· So, we do not want to be eggheads, but we do not want to be ignorant, and we do not want to be workaholics

· Similarly, moral philosophy cannot assume humans are born only to:

· Think

· Act

· Party

D. The Importance of Theory

· Of the two approaches, the abstract is the most hated

· People do not like to take the trouble to reflect on things

· They prefer sticking to common sense

· So why is it that theorizing and thinking is important, anyway;

· Because it is careful inquiry that makes all else possible

· In medicine: care inquiry beings safe cures

· In art: anatomists make depictions of bodies better

· In industry: scientists provide underpinning for needed technology

· In the home: scientists make technology for home appliances possible

· In short, abstract inquisitions have a way of trickling down into every aspect of life, whether or not we are aware of it

E. Where the Abstract Runs Afoul

· This is not to say all abstract inquisitions bring with them good things

· Some of them are not only tiresome, but pernicious as well

· When abstract thinkers get really carried away into the netherworlds, they present idle speculation to the unsuspecting in the guise of absolute certainty

· Superstition is often passed off as hard science (see pg. 5)

· In this respect, the abstract approach has been harmful

· But it need not be this way!

· One of Hume-s overall goals is to take philosophy out of the netherworlds, finding the proper province of human reason, and then use it to solve real problems

F. Hume-s Psychology

· Hume believed that f you really want to know what humans can know, (if you really want to do epistemology) you must understand human nature

· Specifically, we must understand the human mind

· That is, to do epistemology, we must do psychology

· Descartes had done this to a certain degree, but got lost in the metaphysics along the way

· Hume goes much further

· Hume-s ambition was to do for psychology what Newton had done for physics

· To map out the laws of thought

· The Treatise

· His method is introspection and his goals are:

· Better understand human nature

· Find the boundaries (limits) of human reason

· Clear philosophy (science) of dogma and superstition

Summary

A. The Science of Human Nature

· Hume-s goal in this work is to find the proper province of human reason

· That is, he wants to know where reasoning can help us, and where it cannot

· To do this, he will embark on a study of human nature

· He hopes to synthesize the two approaches to human nature into one with the virtues of both and the vices of neither

· He aims to be accurate and applicable, to avoid sloppiness and obscurity

· To proceed, he will being by classifying and ordering the contents of the mind

B. Cleaning Up Philosophy

· Hume believed that philosophers up to his time had been guilty of speculating about things they could not possibly know anything about

· Reason had been used to prove and justify all kinds of outrageous things

· Hume thought this was vain and dishonest

· Many so-called philosophical questions were only pseudo problems

· Particularly, metaphysical problems like who created the universe were matters that no philosopher had any business talking about

· He hoped that by investigating the workings of the human intellect, he could determine the boundaries of inquiry, thereby putting such matters to rest