Hume and the demands of philosophy : science, skepticism, and moderation

Author(s)

• Sasser, Nathan I.

Bibliographic Information

Hume and the demands of philosophy : science, skepticism, and moderation

Nathan I. Sasser

Lexington Books, c2022

• : [hbk.]

Note

Content Type: text (rdacontent), Media Type: unmediated (rdamedia), Carrier Type: volume (rdacarrier)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-184) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

With a comprehensive interpretation of Hume's scientific project to his skepticism, Hume and the Demands of Philosophy: Science, Skepticism, and Moderation argues that Hume is a radical epistemic skeptic who has purely practical reasons for retaining the beliefs that are essential for ordinary life and scientific research. Nathan I. Sasser argues that the key to Hume's epistemology is his conception of philosophy as a normative method of inquiry governing the special sciences. Philosophy approves of the mental faculties that produce reasoning and sensory beliefs. But sensory beliefs and the products of reason themselves face insuperable rational defeater arguments, and because they do, philosophy demands that we suspend these beliefs. Hume's solution to this skeptical dilemma is to point out the fatal practical consequences of suspending these core beliefs. He advises us not to submit to the demands of philosophy in cases where doing so is neither agreeable nor useful to ourselves or others. Hume's moderate approach to philosophy recognizes that since our faculties are not created by a beneficent God, the epistemic demands of philosophy and the practical demands of life sometimes diverge.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: The Problem of Hume's Skepticism An Overview of Book 1 of the Treatise Philosophy and Justification in the Treatise Reason and Skepticism in the Treatise Senses and Skepticism in the Treatise The Purely Practical Response to Skepticism in the Treatise Philosophy and Justification in the Enquiry The Purely Practical Response to Skepticism in the Enquiry Skepticism, Irreligion, and Moderation Bibliography Index About the Author

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BC15192854
• ISBN:
  • 9781793623218
• LCCN: 2021053143
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Lanham
• Pages/Volumes: x, 191 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : B1498
  • DC23 : 192
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Hume, David, 1711-1776