Question 1

&#34;Enlightenment,&#34; according to Kant, means&#10;A) relying only on the light of nature.&#10;B) emergence from self-imposed immaturity.&#10;C) a capacity to empty the mind and receive divine light.&#10;D) having a book to serve as your understanding.

Accepted Answer

Kant defines "Enlightenment" as an individual's emergence from his or her self-imposed immaturity, where immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This concept emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and intellectual independence.

Question 2

David Hume, prince of empiricists, thinks that&#10;A) a science of human nature along Newtonian lines will be a strong defense against superstition.&#10;B) when we have an idea we are suspicious of, we should try to deduce it from an a priori principle.&#10;C) the succession of ideas in our minds is a result of necessary connections among them.&#10;D) our knowledge of causality is a matter of the relations of ideas.

Accepted Answer

David Hume believed that a science of human nature, modeled on the methods of Newton, could help combat superstition by grounding our understanding of the human mind in empirical observation rather than in speculative reasoning or religious dogma.

Question 3

Hume adopts Newton's motto, &#34;frame no hypotheses,&#34; in order to&#10;A) restrict the foundations of our knowledge to innate ideas alone.&#10;B) avoid criticism by the defenders of traditional religion.&#10;C) construct a science of human nature on the basis of the facts.&#10;D) defend religion from its attackers.

Accepted Answer

Hume aimed to construct a science of human nature grounded in empirical observation and facts, mirroring Newton's empirical approach to natural science. He believed that by avoiding speculative hypotheses not based on observable facts, a more solid foundation for understanding human behavior and thought could be established.

Question 4

The idea of cause and effect, Hume thinks,&#10;A) is one of those a priori clear and distinct ideas that we can rely on in proving the existence of things that are the external causes of our ideas.&#10;B) embodies no idea of necessary connection between cause and effect.&#10;C) is based on our experience of constant conjunctions between pairs of events.&#10;D) provides the bridge that gets us to things as they really are, independent of our impressions of them.

Accepted Answer

Hume argues that the idea of cause and effect is based on our experience of constant conjunctions between pairs of events.

Question 5

When Hume says that &#34;all events seem entirely loose and separate,&#34; he means to imply that&#10;A) our experience of events is not to be trusted.&#10;B) there is no necessary connection to be observed among them.&#10;C) you can't really rely on anything.&#10;D) there is no constant conjunction of events to be discovered in the world.

Accepted Answer

Hume's statement reflects his skepticism about the ability to perceive necessary connections between events through empirical observation. He argues that our perceptions of causality are not derived from a direct observation of a necessary connection between events, but rather from the habit or custom of associating events together based on their constant conjunction in our experiences.

Question 6

Hume's view of the idea of the self is that it&#10;A) correctly represents what makes me the same person today as yesterday.&#10;B) is founded on an impression of a simple, unchanging substance.&#10;C) is a fiction.&#10;D) is like a theater in being the permanent, unchanging thing that contains the ever-changing performance.

Accepted Answer

Hume argued that the idea of the self as a single, unchanging entity is a fiction. He believed that what we consider the self is actually a bundle of perceptions that are in constant flux, without any fixed or inherent substance.

Question 7

Hume thinks we can have both modern science and human freedom. This is because&#10;A) the human soul escapes the network of scientific causality.&#10;B) modern science itself shows us that there are no laws of human behavior.&#10;C) we know God would not have created us as mere puppets.&#10;D) liberty and necessity, when properly understood, are seen to be compatible.

Accepted Answer

Hume argues that understanding the concepts of liberty (freedom) and necessity (causality) correctly shows that they are not in conflict but rather can coexist. He believes that human actions can be part of the causal chain (necessity) while individuals still make choices (liberty), thus allowing for both modern science and human freedom.

Question 8

With regard to the existence of God, Hume says that&#10;A) there is no way I can be the originator of an idea of infinite perfection, since if I were, something would have come from nothing.&#10;B) the well-ordered character of the world proves a posteriori that the Author of Nature is somewhat similar to the mind of man.&#10;C) revealed truth, together with philosophical skepticism, is the only sound basis for being a believer.&#10;D) the world was created by many wicked gods over a long time, during which they slowly gained skill in the art of world making.

Accepted Answer

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Question 9

With regard to skepticism, Hume thinks that&#10;A) a mitigated skepticism is a useful hedge against dogmatism and superstition.&#10;B) the skepticism of Descartes' first meditation strikes just the right note.&#10;C) once you go down the skeptical path, there is no recovery into a normal life.&#10;D) all human knowledge is just sophistry and illusion.

Accepted Answer

Hume advocates for a mitigated skepticism, which he sees as a balanced approach to knowledge that avoids the extremes of dogmatism and superstition. He believes this form of skepticism allows for practical living while still questioning the certainty of knowledge.

Question 10

Value or moral judgments, according to Hume,&#10;A) are matters of fact and not relations of ideas.&#10;B) are founded on sentiment or feeling.&#10;C) are based solely on self-interest.&#10;D) can be justified only by appeal to the authority of God.

Accepted Answer

Hume argued that moral judgments are not derived from reason or factual knowledge, but rather from feelings or sentiments. He believed that our ethical evaluations are based on how we feel about the outcomes of actions or the character of persons, not on objective truths or divine commands.

Question 11

According to Hume, what is the origin of our ideas? How does this view serve him in his critique of what he calls &#34;superstition&#34;?

Accepted Answer

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Question 12

In what sense is the idea of causation a fiction for Hume?

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Question 13

What is Hume's view about the self or soul?

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Question 14

Explain how Hume thinks the necessity of actions (that they have causes) is compatible with the fact of liberty in actions (that we sometimes act freely).

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Question 15

Can God's existence be proved?

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Question 16

How does Hume explain our judgment that a certain action is bad or wrong or vicious? In what do we find the viciousness of a vicious action?

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Question 17

What kind of skepticism does Hume approve of? And what kind does he not approve of?

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Question 18

Compare Descartes and Hume on what can be known, and how it can be known.

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Question 19

In area after area, Hume is busy trying to convince us of the limitations of reason. Discuss how he goes about this with regard to causality, God, and morality.

Accepted Answer

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Question 20

Compare Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume on our knowledge of ourselves.

Accepted Answer

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Deck 18: Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley: Materialism and the Beginnings of Empiricism