David Hume: biography and work

Philosophy is that discipline that, since ancient times, has tried to solve the mysteries that surround our life, our world and the reasons for our existence. Before we knew science, humanity tried to answer certain questions in very different ways.. First, came the myths, ideas about creation and, later, with the birth of philosophy, more or less objective reasoning began to occur.

This first philosophy used to look for a reason for our existence and the nature of the world; I was trying to answer what is arch. The passage of time and advances led philosophy to various branches and, later, to different disciplines. Philosophy is, therefore, prior to psychology. For this reason, Philosophers have been the ones who, since ancient times, have investigated the way human beings perceive reality..

In this sense, one of the great philosophers who contributed to this research was David Hume. This author highlighted the importance of learning, habits and the lack of innate primordial knowledge. Obviously, this position was very influential in the philosophy of the time and, a century later, when psychology was already more or less consolidated and differentiated, it also influenced it.

To understand Hume’s philosophy, it is important to emphasize his background. Thus, in the Renaissance, two opposing philosophical currents emerged linked to knowledge. One of them was rationalism, a theory that defended that human beings are born possessing certain truths considered universal, from which reality is interpreted.

At the opposite extreme is the other current: empiricism. Empiricism argued that, It is only learned through experience. since we do not have knowledge that is considered innate. At this point, one of the greatest representatives of this current was, without a doubt, David Hume. Throughout this article, we will discover the keys to his thinking, his life and his work.

David Hume: his life

He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the year 1711. He came from a wealthy family; His father was a lawyer, although he died when Hume was still a child. For this reason, he was also expected to study law, following in his father’s footsteps. David Hume He studied at Edinburgh College, having disciples of Isaac Newton as teachers..

Later, he went to the University of Edinburgh to study law in accordance with his family’s wishes. However, he abandoned these studies because he did not like them. Subsequently, he moved to Bristol in order to try to make his way in trade. But, after suffering a crisis, he himself expressed the following feelings: “insurmountable aversion towards everything, except the studies of philosophy and knowledge in general”.

Years later, he traveled to France, where he lived between 1735 and 1737. First, in Reims and, later, in present-day Sarthe, formerly known as La Flèche. In these locations, wrote the Treat of human nature, a work that he published upon his return to London and in which the germ of his later philosophy can already be seen. However, the publication was a failure, which led to his return to Scotland.

While residing in Edinburgh, he published, in 1742, the first part of his work Moral and political essays; with which he obtained, unlike what happened with his first work, considerable success. Later, He held various positions: he was preceptor to the Marquis of Annandale, secretary to General St. Clair and librarian of the Edinburgh Bar.

In 1763, he joined the Paris embassy thanks to the help of Lord Hertford. It was in this city where he established a relationship with D’Alembert, Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His stay in the French capital lasted until 1769, at which time he decided to return permanently to Edinburgh to dedicate himself to writing until his death in 1776.

Thought of David Hume

To know the thought of David Hume, the first thing we have to do is go to his work and try to define the empiricist theory that he always defended. Empiricism is based on a series of principles:

There is no innate knowledge

Human beings are not born with thought patterns and prior knowledge. that dictate how we should interpret reality. For the empirical current, everything we know about reality is the result of lived experiences.

Experiences can be internal or external, that is, they can come from our own reflection and knowledge of our inner life or, on the contrary, from sensations and perceptions of the world. For empiricists, there is nothing prior to experience, we know through the sensible world; The mind is like a tabula rasa, a blank paper on which the knowledge acquired will be written progressively.

These ideas, very present in Hume, follow in the wake of other empiricist authors such as John Locke. However, they differ in the limits of experience; While Locke believed that knowledge of realities beyond the sensible could be accessed, Hume pointed out that, taking into account the very nature of experience, knowledge would be reduced to our perceptions..

There are two types of knowledge

According to Hume, there are two types of knowledge: on the one hand, impressions, that is, the thoughts that arise as a result of experiences that we live through the senses; On the other hand, we find ideas, which are abstract and ambiguous, because they do not arise through physical sensations.

Everything comes from perception; Impressions would be the immediate knowledge resulting from perception. Therefore, ideas would be derived from impressions and, as a consequence, more complex. Hume also talks about the concept of imagination, which is capable of modifying ideas.

There are two types of differentiated statements

David Hume distinguishes between probable statements derived from a fact, which may or may not occur, in a given space and time. For example, when saying “the sun may not rise any day.” Every day the Sun rises and we know it because it is knowledge acquired by habit, perception and conviction. On the other hand, it talks about demonstratives that, due to their logical structure, can be demonstrated without problems, for example: 4+4=8.

And both one and the other They are what make our habits build, those that will define our way of living even if they are not exactly the same as what reality establishes. These fundamental principles were embodied in his main works: Treatise on human nature, Essays on morals and politics and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

David Hume and psychology

Definitely, David Hume is one of the most important authors of the current known as empiricism. An author whose contribution to philosophy was fundamental to understanding and perfecting this current. The Theory of Knowledge is one of the branches of philosophy most closely linked to psychology, therefore, it is not surprising that an author like Hume has greatly influenced psychology.

For David Humeas for current psychology, We are not born with thoughts and emotions, but rather they are acquired and developed from the experiences that each person lives. Therefore, it discards all types of nativism and reinforces the idea of ​​human learning. Without a doubt, an author who invites us to reflect on our perceptions and our way of understanding the world.

You might be interested…