The Science of Rendering a Problem of Induction - Essay Example

John Supervisor Philosophy 07 June I think Hume means to say that philosophers should always be ready to change his present view, when new evidence contradicts his beliefs. Hence, he says philosophers should be modest in their approach. According to Hume, the science of rendering a problem of induction is rationally invalid. He implied this based on experience (Capaldi, 1997). Hence it can be said that the best way to prevent the confusion is to be modest in our pretentions. We have gained the experience as far as the operations pertaining to cause and effect is concerned.

The derived conclusion of these experiments that are based on these experiences and are not based on reasoning or other process of understanding. 2. In broadest possible terms, metaphysics traditionally tries to answer a couple of basic questions: What is out there in the realms of the unknown? What is the nature of that unknown or how does it look like? A philosopher generally tries to answer these questions for general people and broaden their view about the world; for example, possibilities, cause and effect, time and space, object and their properties, and also existence.

Ontology is the central branch of metaphysics that investigates the basic categories of being and their relations. Cosmetology is the other branch of metaphysics that studies the origin, nature, dynamics and fundamental structure of the universe (Capaldi, 1997). Sometimes epistemology is also considered as a central branch of metaphysics. However, it is not confirmed. 3. As far as the “Sceptical Doubts” is concerned, there are two thinking styles or types of knowledge. Those are matters of fact and the relations of ideas.

Hume believed human knowledge is either necessary or contingent. Secondly, it is an ultimate truth that there should be relations between ideas. Thirdly, matters of fact are considered as contingent truth. The inherent logical contingency does not allow inductive predictions and statements of matters of fact to amount to knowledge (Capaldi, 1997). To prove this point, Hume states that the sun will surely rise tomorrow like it does every day, and it would be absurd to think that sun will not rise the next day.

With this alternative concept, metaphysics can serve as a foundation for the nature of reality but not as such for reality directly. Metaphysics offers most basic accounts that are related to the nature of things like what they are and not of things like how they are. As a step to answer the first question – we need to first differentiate between the two ways in which a statement might be put in order to concern the nature of reality. On one hand, there can be a statement like H2O means water.

This might describe the inherent nature of water but there is no reference to the explicit or implicit nature of water. On the other hand, a statement like water is H2O by nature. This statement involves a reference to the nature of water – explicit or implicit. It can be concluded that two thinking styles of humans is comprised of either matters of fact or relations of ideas. Most of our beliefs are regarded as matters of fact irrespective of their validity or truth – for example natural science.

Works Cited Capaldi, Nicholas. David Hume: An Introduction to His Philosophical System, West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1997.