Hume’s Three Rules
By: stewart
David Hume was an 18th century Scottish philosopher, economist and historian, who is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish enlightenment. He was born on April 26, 1711 and he died at the age of 65, on August 25, 1776. One of Hume’s most influential contributions to the field of philosophy are the three rules that: all knowledge comes from experience, an experience is of the past, and there is no reason to think the future will be like the past. Hume related his theories towards three main quotes about the past, future, and the experiences that occur throughout them.
The theory that all knowledge comes from experience makes me feel ambivalent. I think that many aspects of this statement are true, and that many others are false. Yes, much of our knowledge is acquired through past experience. For example, the knowledge that the sun will rise in the morning is knowledge that comes from continuous past experience. My past experience leads me to believe that this phenomenon is an ordinary part of life and reality. This assumption can be classified as knowledge and confirms Hume’s theory that knowledge comes through past experience. On the other side of the fence, much of how knowledge is obtained is through what others tell you. The knowledge that Pluto is the farthest planet from the sun is not, and could not be caused from my past experience, for I have never been up to space and could not attest to this theory in my own light. It takes the actions of others, and ones before who have experienced being up in space to actually give meaning and truth to this knowledge. The root word of knowledge is “know” and to know something is to have actual ...