General Philosophy 7.3 Hume on Liberty and Necessity
Dec 1, 2010
Dive into the intriguing tension between free will and determinism as explored through Hume's philosophy. Discover how Hume believes our freedoms are influenced by causal necessity. The discussion highlights how understanding these concepts can deepen our sense of moral responsibility. The connection between our actions and personal motives sheds light on the complexities of human choice. Prepare for a thought-provoking exploration of liberty wrapped in a web of philosophical inquiry!
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Human Actions Follow Causal Necessity
- Hume argues human actions follow causal laws like physical events, showing predictability and uniformity.
- This supports determinism, as motives consistently lead to predictable actions, analogous to billiard balls' motion.
Prisoner Predicts His Fate
- Hume illustrates predictability of human behavior with a prisoner knowing his fate and predicting guards' actions.
- This combines reasoning about physical and moral causes to show the uniformity of human conduct.
Illusion of Causal Understanding
- People behaviorally accept determinism despite denying it theoretically due to overestimating their understanding of causal necessity.
- Hume argues our intuitive grasp of physical causation is flawed, aligning it closer to unpredictability as in modern science.