David Hume

Question 1

What are philosophers often categorized as?

Answer 1

Makers or breakers

Question 2

Makers

Answer 2

contribute to new ideas on how to set up the world or a new society

Question 3

Breakers

Answer 3

critical of existing philosophers trying to improve

Question 4

What is Hume most famous for?

Answer 4

being an outstanding critical philosopher

Question 5

What does Hume set himself up to be?

Answer 5

“steal man”

Question 6

Who does Hume befriend?

Answer 6

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Question 7

What book has royalties that will set him up for the rest of his life as a public intellectual?

Answer 7

History of England

Question 8

What kind of era was he writing in?

Answer 8

major scientific advances were being made

Question 9

What did Hume want to do?

Answer 9

understand the human mind the way Newton understood the physical world

Question 10

What does his book Treatise of Human Nature attempt?

Answer 10

understand human mind

Question 11

what is believed to set humans apart?

Answer 11

rationality

Question 12

Do we make decisions based on feelings or rationality?

Answer 12

feelings

Question 13

What does Hume believe reason to be?

Answer 13

“slave of passions”

Question 14

what are moral distinctions derived from?

Answer 14

moral sentiments
feelings of approval or disapproval felt by spectators who contemplate a character trait or action

Question 15

what was a large criticism on Descarte’s belief?

Answer 15

convictions to reason
NOT reason to convictions
used to define his criticisms of social contract theory

Question 16

Why shouldn’t you base morals on rational thought?

Answer 16

passions outweigh reason

Question 17

What would advocates of natural law say?

Answer 17

eternal truths are as apparent at 2+2=4
Hume disagrees

Question 18

What proof does he use to demonstrate that eternal truths aren’t apparent?

Answer 18

Parricide is not the same for humans as it is for trees
subjective morality determines its wrongness

Question 19

What idea does Hume acknowledge that we’ve talked about before?

Answer 19

Instrumental rationality

Question 20

What does reason serve as?

Answer 20

a means to an end but cannot determine what the end is

Question 21

What determines what the end is?

Answer 21

passion

Question 22

What can reason tell you?

Answer 22

how to reach an end but not how to care about it

Question 23

Who’s statement of the social contract theory does Hume criticize?

Answer 23

Locke

Question 24

What does Hume not dispute?

Answer 24

necessity for government

Question 25

What does Hume note about the social contract theory?

Answer 25

no societies were actually formed

Question 26

What is history littered with?

Answer 26

examples of societies starting via force (like machiavelli advocates)

Question 27

what is the legitimacy of regime based on?

Answer 27

custom or habit

Question 28

what does it mean with people being born into political societies?

Answer 28

they aren't actually granting their consent to join

Question 29

What does Locke think that Hume disagrees with?

Answer 29

takes care of people and consent via tacit consent

Question 30

what does Hume say is needed for social contract theory to work?

Answer 30

voluntary consent - in reality the only consent given is the act of staying in the country

Question 31

is the standard by which you no longer need to obey the government the violation of a contract or violating common sense?

Answer 31

violating common sense

Question 32

they say he may say he supports the necessity of government but what does his criticisms of the social contract imply?

Answer 32

the world we live in should just be a free for all

Question 33

does Hume set out to destroy or strengthen social contract theory?

Answer 33

strengthen it by making the argument more defensible

Question 34

what does Hume believe

Answer 34

government is necessary and in the interest of all involved

Question 35

what does Hume say would happen without rules?

Answer 35

we would descend into chaos

Question 36

what can his general skepticism be used as

Answer 36

to justify the status quo

Question 37

how does he view institutions

Answer 37

stable and unoppressive so he wants to tamp down arguments to change it

Question 38

what does Hume refer to justice as?

Answer 38

"artificial virtue"

Question 39

reason

Answer 39

may not get you to care about justice, but it can tell you how to achieve justice

Question 40

how is justice determined?

Answer 40

a set of rules that are based on the idea that people tried living without them and couldn't

Question 41

justice set of rules

Answer 41

rules of property rules of transferring property rules or promising