Essay/Term paper: Hume's mind game

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Philosophy Essays

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. In
Hume's writing, assumption is a dangerous word. Assumption is made up of what
you believe and what you don't. I can believe light will turn on when I hit the
switch, but I can not rule out the fact that it will not turn on. It is
probable that the light will turn on, but not definite. Hume says probabilities
are what the mind is consuming during everyday life. Science give the facts
because it has been tested and proved. "Everyday life" hasn't been proven by
science. One example of a nonproved science is gravity. Gravity pulls
everything toward the center of the earth. They have tested gravity, but there
are no definite facts known to prove the theories. Who knows, maybe tomorrow
gravity reverses it's pull and everything gets pulled upward. We, as normal
thinking persons, assume gravity will not change, and that assumption is what
clouds our minds of other possibilities. Hume doesn't want people to change the
way they think, he just wants people to acknowledge the other possibilities that
are out there.
Robert Hume has a very good grasp on what he is talking about. His trip
through the mind's eye was very intriguing to say the least. I never thought
about the possibility of looking out the window some morning, only to find out
the sun did not rise. I really do not know how anyone could disprove his
writings. Everything he said makes sense. I can't say I agree with everything,
but I can't seem to put my objections into words. He covered all the basics. I
can not say the sun will rise. What are my facts? Sure, the sun came up
yesterday and today, but tomorrow is a different story. The only way anyone can
disprove Hume's theories is if that person could see into the future. I believe
that is not likely anytime soon.