Author Question: What was Hume's argument for the position that there is no such thing as the self? Need help with ... (Read 59 times)

B · **on:** Jul 14, 2018

What was Hume's argument for the position that there is no such thing as the self?

Need help with this one Thank you

Question 2

What was Descartes' theory of knowledge,

and how did that guide his philosophical investigations?

xthemafja · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 14, 2018

Answer to Question 1

- According to Hume, human experience consists of impressions (basic sensations) and ideas (thoughts and images that are copies of impressions).
- Because the self is not found among these continually changing sensations, we can only conclude that there is no good reason for believing that the self exists.
- What is the self we experience according to Hume? A bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement.

Answer to Question 2

- The first principle of Decartes' theory of knowledge is cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore, I am).
- No rational person will doubt his or her own existence as a conscious, thinking entity while we are aware of thinking about our self.
- It would be impossible to be self-conscious if we didn't have a personal identity of which to be conscious, so self-identity and being self-conscious are mutually dependent on one another.