Hume vs Kant Causality - 1784 Words

Hume vs. Kant: Causality Humes ultimate goal in his philosophic endeavors was to undermine abstruse Philosophy. By focusing on the aspect of reason, Hume shows there are limitations to philosophy. Since he did not know the limits, he proposed to use reason to the best of his ability, but when he came to a boundary, that was the limit. He conjectured that we must study reason to find out what is beyond the capability of reason. Hume began his first examination if the mind by classifying its contents as Perceptions. Here therefore [he divided] all the perceptions of the mind into two classes or species. (27) First, Impressions represented an image of something that portrayed an immediate relationship. Secondly,†¦show more content†¦Immanuel Kant, a philosopher after Hume, sets out to reform metaphysics. Kant believed that if Hume was right, metaphysics would be impossible. But, Kant was unwilling to surrender to Humes skeptical argument, so Kant sets out to do a critique in order to explore the possibilities and reform metaphysics. Kant begins his critique searching for ‘a priori knowledge within philosophy. Kant began to search for the ‘a priori principles that were rationally deductible in order to explain why we perceive the things we cannot perceive. Kant believed that the only way that we could get to things necessary and universal was through ‘a priori. Kant found that the concept of the connection of cause and effect was by no means the only concept by which the understanding thinks the connection of things ‘a priori, but rather that metaphysics consists altogether of such concepts.(8) Kant began to examine pure ‘a priori reason by establishing his critique. He stated that there are boundaries and contents. He set out to find what is inside the limitations and what is outside. Kant examined the three bodies of knowledge: math, physical science and metaphysics. Kant said that science must have necessity and universality. This places math and science within reason. Kant first divided judgement into two kinds of knowledge- analytic and synthetic. In the Prolegomena, Kant criticized Hume for having regarded mathematical