David Hume Impressions Analysis

(Passage #1)The Dilution of Reasoning: An Analysis of the Issue of “Impressions” and “Ideas” in Hume’s Analysis of Human Thought

This philosophical analysis will define the premise of impressions and ideas in Hume’s rejection of cause and effect as a form of human reasoning. In this perception, Hume is defining the vivid nature of Impressions, which eventually become diluted into ideas over time. Hume’s analysis of this phenomenon reverts to the initial premise that cause and effect cannot be real, since it is a diluted experience that cannot be proven through reasoning or understanding. This quote illustrates the overarching premise that Hume provides as a basis for his argument on the problem of human reasoning due to the limitations of …show more content…
This aspect of human thought is defined in the thought process of the brain, which is defined through an “impression” of a certain event as it actually occurs in the present tense. In this manner, the immediate experience of the senses (sight, hearing, etc.) only provides an immediate perception of the external “object” in nature. However, this impression only lasts for a short time in relation to the information that provides to the person experiencing the image or event: “Our senses inform us of the colour, weight, and consistence of bread; but neither sense nor reason can ever inform us of those qualities which fit it for the nourishment and support of a human body (para.3). In this manner, an impression of the object can be made, but deciphering the meaning of the impression is a much more difficult problem for the human mind. In fact, the distortion of the impression over time becomes an issue, since the human mind tends to form an “idea” about the impression related to their own past experiences. This distortion of the first impression is part of the devolvement of “reasoning” because the individual’s own perceptions begin to distort the reality of the event or object that was originally perceived: As to past Experience, it can be allowed to give direct and certain information of those precise objects only” (Hume para.3). Hume is effectively arguing that …show more content…
For instance, I could experience the color of a tree as being green (leafs) and brown (trunk and branches) as part of a direct experience of the object. In the present tense, my mind only perceives the tree as it is in the moment. This is part of Hume’s evaluation of experience as a form of perception of the world, yet a timeline has been established to define the eventual decay of the impression. Over time, the impression starts to become diluted with additional experiences taken from the individual’s memory. This is part of the distorting effect of the human mind because it cannot retain the first impression, but instead, it begins to degrade into an “idea.” An idea is one way in which the individual’s mind distorts the experience by inserting their own past experie4nces over the initial impression. This is one way to explain the validity of Hume’s argument based on these additional aspects of the human thought: “It is impossible, therefore, that any arguments from experience can prove this resemblance of the past to the future; since all these arguments are founded on the supposition of that resemblance” (Hume para.8). Therefore, the premise of present and future tense define the dilution of an impression over time, which defines an important evaluation of how individual experiences can distort