Hume: The Science of Man

An empiricist takes the mind apart — and finds no cause, no self, and no reason that could ever move you to act.

A course on the thought of David Hume.

Course outline

1. The Science of Man — One rule, applied without exception: every idea must be traceable to something you actually experienced. It sounds harmless. It is a blade, and by the end of the course most of what you believe will…
2. The Billiard Table — You believe one event makes another happen. Watch closely while it happens, and tell me which part of what you saw was the making.
3. Custom Is the Guide — Every expectation you have about tomorrow rests on a premise no argument can supply. This is the one people call the scandal, and I have never found the answer.
4. No Self to Find — Look inward for the thing that has your experiences. Report what you find. I did this honestly, published the result, and then admitted in print that I could not make it work.
5. Reason, the Slave — Reason cannot move you to do anything, and no argument has ever carried you from how the world is to how you ought to act. What is left to do the work is feeling — which is not the concession it…
6. Miracles, Design, and the Backgammon Table — The argument that cost him two professorships, the book he did not dare publish while alive — and the answer to the scepticism, which is not an argument at all.

Part of the Symposium course library.