Hume's Mind Game
Travis Slaby
phil-101
Alex Clarkson
2-17-97
The human mind is a very intricate machine. There have been many people
that have attempted, and failed, to explain how the human mind operates. After
reading Hume, I was in agreement with a lot of what he was explaining. Hume, in
my mind, has come the closest to uncovering the minds operations.
Robert Hume dealt with a lot of what Decarte talked about in his
writings. The difference between Decarte and Hume is that Hume "ironed out" a
lot of the "wrinkles" that Decarte left behind. One in particular, was that of
doubting everything. Hume believed that you could doubt some things, but it was
impossible to doubt everything. I completely agree with Hume. Doubting
everything would never lead anywhere. The human mind can not just wipe out all
it's known memory and start over. The mind is always on. Decarte used his
beliefs to prove his own theories. He cheated his own system.
Another thing Hume did was throw the Law of Mediocrity out the window.
He is saying, basically, that everyday life can change tomorrow. The sun may
not come up in the morning, a pool ball, being hit by another, may not move. I
still believe the sun will come up tomorrow, but I see what Hume is trying to
get at. Everything that is thought to be definite can change. There is no
proven facts that say the sun will come up tomorrow, we just assume it will.&n ...