Causal Interaction David Hume Summary

The goal of this paper is to examine the positive account of casual interaction given by David Hume in his An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. My aim is to explain the way that one’s ideas about a particular cause are related to an idea of a particular effect, such that the first event actually caused the second event. This will require an understanding of the technical philosophical language used by Hume as well as a deep look into the logic he used to build his theory. In the later part of the essay, I will discuss a specific example that shows how Hume would explain the causal connection between a baseball striking a window and that window then shattering. It is first necessary to discuss that Hume was an empiricist, meaning that …show more content…
After some reasonable number of observations, one could infer that the latter type of event is caused by the preceding type of event. The importance here is that Hume defines the conclusion one continually draws about a future event based on current events as Custom or Habit. His example of custom is that one’s observation of fire would lead to an expectation of warmth only after a considerable number of times observing fire and next feeling warmth. This habit is automatic and does not require the person to draw the connection between the two events. This phenomenon is automatic and shall continue as long as human nature does not change (Hume, …show more content…
This is to make certain that one remains open to all the options possible in causation. In his example involving billiard balls, while one ball striking another will usually cause the second ball to move, one must remain open to the second ball remaining unmoved falling the impact from the first ball. The number of observations of the second ball moving after being struck is what habitually forces one to have a sentiment or feeling that the second ball will move more so than feeling that the second ball will remain