Humes Critique of Causality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Humes critical review of Causality - Essay ExampleOur idea of causality arises from our impressions of three kinds of relations mingled with objects the relation of contiguousness or contact, such as when billiard balls collide, and second, temporal priority, the idea that the solution should immediately follow the arrest. These two, when interpreted together, is what Hume calls conjunction, which can be confirmed by sense experience, but it cannot give us an idea of unavoidable connection. The third kind of relationship that must be present in our idea of political campaign and effect is indeed, unavoidable connection. By necessary connection, Hume means the relation between cause and effect in which the cause necessarily produces the effect. But from what impression do we derive the idea of a necessary connection between cause and effect? Hume claims that there is no rational proof or basis for the causal formula this principle is uncorrupted custom or habit (Hume 37). We only think that a particular cause must necessarily have a particular effect because we have the idea of a necessary connection between a cause and an effect after we experience their conjunctions repeatedly. If Hume were right here, science would seem to be an impossible endeavor, for it is based on scientific causal laws (Lavine 168). If causality were reduced to a mere psychological law, then we would have no basis for scientific knowledge or any mark knowledge for that matter. The foundations of knowledge would collapse into nothing but meaningless psychology.