How We Gain Knowledge and What We Do with Knowledge: David Hume

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David Hume was an imperialist philosopher who revolutionized scientific argument and methodology with his skepticism. His arguments about the way people though up to his day, and still today, are fundamental in explaining how we gain knowledge and what we do with this knowledge. Hume helped pave a road leading toward a higher state of consciousness for humanity with his theory concerning the perceptions of the mind. He divided the minds perception into two distinct group's impression and ideas. With these two classifications Hume rationalized the depths of human understanding. Impressions consist of the perception regarding all that is seen, felt and heard. Ideas are formulated thoughts based upon impressions. They are the perceptions of the mind involved with thought rather than experience. Hume used impressions to test the relevance of ideas through his "microscope" system. This theory challenged the mind to test out inconsistent ideas by means of the impressions. The essence of ideas and impression defines the nature of the mind and all that it perceives. Together they rationalize clear and distinct thoughts and sensations Impressions are lively perceptions that implore all the sensation and emotion that the mind perceives. They are not misleading, for their essence is based entirely on experience. It is a perception that ignites the way all is felt, seen, or heard. External causes or objects affect the senses, influencing the way the mind perceives things. For instance to understand the essence of a rose is to recognize that it is red, the pedals feel like silk, it smells of sweet perfume and it evokes happiness. All of these perceptions are derived from the senses. Beautiful words could never conjure enough realism to replace...

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...n impression. For most of all my ideas I was able to trace them back to impressions. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were debates, as there are today, about how much of what we know is something we learned through experience and how much of what we know is something we could have reasoned out using our human intelligence without the benefit of particular experience. Hume added considerable insight concerning all the perception of the mind and helps develop a system to differentiate the relevance of ideas. He distinctly and clearly stated that the only truth the mind has is based on the sense experience. Hume shed light on the mind perceptions that was completely new and different from other modern philosophers. In the process he challenged the world to look at life from a new angle and understand their minds extension with a new appreciation.

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