Irrational Behavior and Hume

After watching the video (click here), what are some of the key points raised in it.

How would Dan Ariely's research conflict or compliment Hume's philosophy on human nature?

Respond to these questions (or other ones of your own choosing) in the comments section of this posting. This posting should be at least 2 paragraphs in length.

Hume Part II

Moving from Critique to Construction.....Describing and Explaining.

Read pages 5-6. Click here

Answer the following:

1. What does Hume mean by "the most secret recesses of the mind"?
2. What is the "only way to free learning from entanglement"?
3. What is the "only universal remedy"? What is being remedied?
4. What does Hume mean when stating "the eye of the mind can't easily detect the lines..."?
5. Why does Hume reference Astronomers and Newton? What are the major points he is raising on page 6, especially from the right side of the page.

Post- Cartesian Philosophy- David Hume

Full Text of Hume: click HERE

After Reading pp. 1-4, answer the following in the Comments Section of this posting. Complete prior to class on Tuesday. 

1. Describe Descartes' legacy- is it more of a quantity or quality type of impact?

2. How does Hume describe the 1st treatment of philosophy?

3. How does Hume describe moral philosophy in the second way?

4. Which philosophy do you agree with more? Why?

5. If pragmatism is defined as" a philosophical approach that assesses the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical 

application." How does Hume's philosophy fall into being labelled pragmatic?

6. Describe the harm caused by speculative philosophy? What is the one positive thing about speculative philosophy?

Third Meditation....In Your Own Words

Read the 3rd Meditation- Here. 









Some Central Ideas within this Meditation:

3 possible types of ideas: innate, those originating in myself, and those that originate from something outside of me. We shall be most interested in the third group.

"I must still doubt both my senses and my intuitions concerning mathematical knowledge since God may have constituted me so as to be deceived even about those things I seem most certain."

"The idea of God could not have originated in me, since I am a finite substance."

You are doing the same with this Meditation as you did with the 2nd. 

Your Meditations

As you read the 2nd Meditation of Descartes, think about how you can perform the same mental exercise he is conducting. What would it mean to doubt everything? How do you come to the conclusions? You are to re-write the 2nd Meditation in your own words from the first person perspective- meaning, you are mandated to use "I" throughout your posting.

Text can be found here.
Assignment should be about a page to a page and a half.