Of the Standard of Taste

Hume begins by pointing out the differences between sensations and thoughts. According to Hume, impressions are formed by human senses, mental sensations, and emotions. Hume, on the other hand, observes that ideas are beliefs, memories, and thoughts derived from sensations. This factor influences how people interpret, collaborate, and agree on concepts. According to Hume’s observation, concepts produce impressions in humans through likeness, contiguity, and the cause and impact. This element makes people doubt their life condition. Individuals associate aspects of two or more outcomes based on a circumstance through comparison. This aspect makes people to make a judgment regarding a situation that influences their skepticism. Moreover, Hume observes that individual’s skepticism is based on consideration factors attributing to the occurrence of a situation. This is because people evaluate opportunities of an aspect (Hume 215). Thus, contradicting outcomes other than the expected results attributes to suspicion that in turn requires conviction for individuals to understand the influencing factors.

Further, Hume differentiates between association of ideas and matters of fact. Based on Hume’s observation, relations of ideas are commonly scientific facts and people cannot disapprove them without conflicting them. On the other hand, matters of fact are general certainties learnt through experiences. Hume states that matter of facts are understood based on causation, cause and effect, in a manner that real-life situations permit people the capacity to assume unseen causes. However, Hume argues that conventions of cause and effect that influences two events are not necessarily true (Hume 217). Thus, it is probable to refute causal association without conflict because causal links are assumption and not subject to reason that in turn influences people’s skepticism.

However, the inability to justify the future based on the past experiences nullifies legitimacy of matters of fact. This is because the future is dynamic and does not resemble the past. This aspect brings about uncertainty in matters affecting peoples live directly. Based on varying viewpoints and different life experiences people are prone to have contradicting viewpoints that in turn brings about suspicion (Hume 217). Thus, an association can be disapproved without conflict due to lack of experience to justify future events. Therefore, it is difficult to rely on the interconnection between past event and the future.

Thus, Hume suggests that individual assumptions are based on their habits and not cognitive function. This is due to reliance on probability to predict future events based on the past occurrences. Hume states that experience outcomes make people assume linkage between two events if they occur repeatedly. Thus, it is a requirement for people to minimize meaningful concepts to the simple impressions on which they are built. However, due to lack of simple impression of causation this aspect seems invalid. This aspect results in conflicts due to uncurtaining about the future events. However, Hume acknowledges the connection between concepts because they provide observable perspectives of repeated actions between events (Hume 218). However, due to lack of scientific proof of consistency in an association of events in the future, people are skeptical due to differences in experiences and prediction capacity of future events.

Also, Hume compares human and animals and states that they possess a similar capability to think and reason. However, Hume denies that there is the existence of a rational justification for belief in the existence of miracles among other forms of religious and metaphysical philosophy. Nevertheless, it is easy to justify people’s skepticism regarding the existence of an external world; this aspect influences people’s capacity to judge. Thus, Hume observes that these primitive beliefs are formed through customary means to promote order in the world (Hume 218). According to Hume, restricting human thinking to relations of ideas and matters of fact, limits reasoning. This aspect is characterized by varying debates regarding the validity of the existence of an external world. Uncertainty, observation of the law and existence or written information materials such as the bible that regulates people’s behaviors results to conflicting perspectives. This is based on lack of capacity to validate the truthfulness of the available information and the observation of the custom belief that in turn result to skepticism.

Response to skepticism

Based on Hume’s argument, it can be depicted that he seeks to explain human perceptive about the world rather than their effort to justify beliefs and prove the reality. To validate this, Hume states that individuals cannot understand what connection between events are. Hume states that people do not have a good reason to believe much about what they have faith in about the world. However, human nature is set to function in a manner that reason cannot (Hume 219). Thus, it is based on human acceptance to limit themselves through accepting that matters of fact are their sole source of trusted information. Hume states that if past experiences do not teach people about the future, functioning practically is difficult. This aspect result to skepticism due to a dynamic future that not always transpire as predicted based on people association and linkage of events with the past. Moreover, the elimination of causation world make it possible for people to function by acting like causation does not exist(Hume 220). Thus, Hume states that regardless of knowing an association between two events, it is not worth conflicting to find rightful solutions. Further, Hume states that people should not spend time and energy questioning and finding whether God exists, what the soul is of whether it is immortal. However, people do not find rational answers regarding abstract matters. This is because the human mind is not meant to help in discovering and defining the truth.

However, Hume is skeptical about his own findings of why people cannot rationally make essential associations between two events. Hume concludes that it is not possible to predict the future based on the evaluation of the past experiences. This is because difference in past experiences and events outcomes impacts correlation of events that provides reliable information necessary for providing practical future events. Hume states that people fail to discover the future due to lack of accepting that the future cannot be predicted through association of the past events. Based on Hume’s deduction, people’s assumption that one event constantly follows another event, it is natural that people assume that the two events are linked in a pattern. Thus, Hume recommends that it is necessary for people to make such assumptions to live their lives (Hume 221). This is because such assumptions are crucial and practical. However, this assumptions are not completely reliable and passable as proof. Thus, Hume states that it is wrong for people to justify that beliefs influence reason. Moreover, Hume states that it is necessary for people to how one event causes the other rather than linking the resulting event with the causation situation.

Latter Arguments

Hume argues that human have an instinctive belief in causality, based on peoples biological nature, and it is difficult to prove or conflict this conviction. However, if people accept their restrictions, individuals can operate without deserting their norms about cause and effect. Through belief, people learn that the world maneuvers on a cause and effect perspective with the existence of a First Cause, God (Hume 234). In Hume’s perspective, causation is presumed but is eventually unclear. Hume claims that people do not know there is a place for a supreme being.

Through the problem of induction, it is a practical view to draw general conclusions based on a particular experience. This aspect is essential and is scientifically used to validate events based observation of the past events to predict the future. This method is based on the application of acquired data necessary for providing correlation between the past and the future. Based on this principle, the future can be predicted based on the past events. However, Hume argues that lack of awareness about nature between past and future events, people cannot sufficiently justify inductive expectations. The first defense is practical: it is logical that the future correlates with the past. The second explanation is that people assume that events will continue taking place because they have transpired before. However, to Hume, this kind of thought is characterized by lack of reasoning. Hume states that people have an instinctual belief in induction that is rooted in individual biological nature that is unavoidable (Hume 233). Thus, Hume approves that people can still use induction technique like causation to facilitate growth in people’s lives as long as they acknowledge the limitation of awareness.

However, Hume rejects that reason plays a crucial role in inspiring or depressing human behavior. Instead, Hume believes that the influential aspect in human nature is passion. To validate this, Hume requires individuals to evaluate their actions based on instrumentalism criteria. This aspect seeks to identify whether human actions serve the agent’s purpose. Commonly, it is observable that human beings act out of motivation other than their best interests (Hume 232). Through this, Hume deduces that human beings do not only require to reason to act but also requires a motivation factor. Thus, it is evident that reason is not a molarity factor. Therefore, reason acts as an advising tool rather than an aspect used to make decisions. Similarly, Hume observes that decadence is wicked not because it infringes reason but because it is not pleasing to people. However, this aspect is conflicting to religious parties that believe that God gifted human beings with a sense of reason to discern and understand ethicalval ues (Hume 233). Thus, through this argument, Hume denied the role of God as a source of values that governs human beings. Thus, Hume’s argument is depraved in consideration of people’s beliefs and religious observations.

Also, Hume suitably distinguishes ideas from judgment in artistic obligation. Ideas are based on personal feelings about an object or piece of art. Thus, it is evident that human demonstrate diverse sentiments based on their preferences and needs. Hence, stating that a person likes something is to express a biased outlook (Hume 231). But to decide a particular object that it is highly aesthetic is to make an objective judgment about the object. Thus, a judgment is not only an expression of personal ideas, but it is a claim of objectivity. Thus, affirmation of something to be good or an idea is true has to be defensible because a judgment is in need of some verification.

Work cited

Hume, D. Of the Standard of Taste. In C. W. Eliott (Ed.), English Essays from Sir Philip Sidney to Macaulay. P F Collier & Son, 1910, pp. 215–236.