Author	Zabeeh, Farhang. author
Title	Hume Precursor of Modern Empiricism [electronic resource] : An analysis of his opinions on Meaning, Metaphysics, Logic and Mathematics / by Farhang Zabeeh
Imprint	Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands, 1960
Connect to	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9194-4
Descript	166 p. online resource

David Hume is the most influential precursor of modern empiriยญ cism. By modern empiricism, I intend a belief that all cognitive conflicts can be resolved, in principle, by either appeal to matters offact, via scientific procedure, or by appeal to some sets of natural or conventional standards, whether linguistic, mathematical, aesยญ thetic or political. This belief itself is a consequent of an old appreยญ hension that all synthetic knowledge is based on experience, and that the rest can be reduced to a set of self-evident truths. In this broad sense, Modern Empiricism encompasses classes, such as Logiยญ cal Empiricism, Logical Atomism and Philosophical Analysis, and unique individuals such as Russell and Moore. It excludes, thereby, the present day continental philosophies, such as Thomism, Existยญ entialism, and Dialectical Materialism. Modern empiricists, to be sure, are influenced by many other phiยญ losophers. Locke, Berkeley, and Mill, among the classical empiriยญ cists, and Leibniz and Kant, among the rationalists (the former especially on the logico-mathematical side) in one way or other are responsible for the appearance of empiricism in its new form. But none of them were as influential as Hume. This, by itself is not news. Weinberg, in his well-known book, An Examination of Logical Positivism, observes that: Many, if not all, of the principal doctrines of contemporary positivism derive from Hume

One / Statement of the Problem -- 1 Historical Setting -- 2 The Empiricistsโ{128}{153}Dilemma -- 3 A Brief Comparison -- 4 The Main Issue -- Two / The Principle of Meaning -- 1 The Critique of Metaphysics -- 2 The Limit of Human Knowledge -- 3 The Principle of the Priority of Impressions to Ideas -- 4 The Application of the Principle -- 5 Meaning and Complex Ideas -- 6 Summary of the Chapter -- Three / Evaluation of Humeโ{128}{153}s Principle -- 1 Introduction -- 2 On the Relation of Impressions and Ideas -- 3 On the Relation of Words and Impressions -- 4 The Difficulty with the Recurrence of Impressions -- 5 The Difficulty with the Privacy of Impressions -- 6 The Difficulty of Establishing Meaning by Looking for the Origin of Ideas -- Four / The Principle of Analyticity -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Statement of the Principle -- 3 An Analysis of Humeโ{128}{153}s Principle -- 4 Humeโ{128}{153}s Explanation of Logical Concepts -- 5 Humeโ{128}{153}s View of Logic -- 6 Summary of the Chapter -- Five / The Domain of Deductive Reason -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Knowledge and Its Objects -- 3 The Science of Arithmetic -- 4 The Science of Geometry -- 5 Is Knowledge Attainable? -- 6 Conclusion of the Chapter -- Six / Summary and Conclusion