An investigation into the human mind

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An investigation into the human mind is the title under which the book An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume became known in German-speaking countries. When it was first published in London in 1748 , the title of the epistemological text was Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding . Accordingly, the first German translation, published in Hamburg and Leipzig in 1755, was entitled Philosophical Experiments on Human Knowledge . Another title of a German translation was Investigation into the Subject of the Human Mind , for example 1869, translated by Julius von Kirchmann .

While Hume was sharply attacked by school metaphysics for his writing, he suggested important changes in subsequent philosophy . The editor of the German-language first edition, Johann Georg Sulzer , himself a follower of Christian Wolff and by no means a skeptic like Hume, described him as a “benefactor of philosophy”, after whose criticism the field of metaphysics could be re-established. Immanuel Kant went one step further by deriving from Hume's skepticism the obligation to critically examine the possibilities of knowledge that led him to his critical philosophy.

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General representation

The book, which is one of the most important works of Hume, consists of twelve essays , the topics from the first work of Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature ( A Treatise of Human Nature record) again. After the extensive text published in 1739/40 had little success, Hume simplified the form for the inquiry and set a slightly different focus. In one of the most common German-language editions, the twelve sections are overwritten as follows:

  1. About the different types of philosophy
  2. About the origin of the ideas
  3. About the association of ideas
  4. Skeptical doubts about the activities of the mind
  5. Skeptical solution to this doubt
  6. About the probability
  7. From the idea of ​​the necessary link
  8. About freedom and necessity
  9. About the sanity of animals
  10. About miracles
  11. About a special providence and a future existence
  12. About academic or skeptical philosophy

1st essay

With the aim of a critical metaphysics (1st essay), Hume formulates the basic assumptions of his philosophy of consciousness and knowledge, according to which only "impressions" can be the cause of "ideas" and simple ideas about the human mind complex ideas are put together (2nd essay). According to the third essay, this association runs on the basis of similarity, spatio-temporal proximity and causality (“ similarity , contact and causation ”). Hume illustrates this in the editions published up to 1768 with an extensive section, which was later omitted, which deals with connections between ideas engaged in literature, especially historiography , epic and drama . In both historiography and epic poetry, the relationship between cause and effect is dominant.

Only the relationships between ideas can, of course, be certain, while the relationships between facts, which can always only be experienced through impressions, are never necessarily true. From this it follows that, according to Hume's understanding, causality can only be determined with a certain probability between cause and effect , never with absolute certainty. “One event follows another; but we can never observe any bond between them. ”We assume, not after some experience, but out of habit, as the cause of another thing that which we have observed several times before it. Hume's rejection of complete certainty in favor of mere probability extends to all statements, including pure rational judgments .

skepticism

This step leads Hume to occupy himself with skepticism (4th – 7th essay, 12th essay), the most radical form of which he rejects as Pyrrhonism : although the radical skepticism of a Pyrrhon of Elis (approx. 360-270 BC) ) cannot be refuted epistemologically, but it is useless in practice and therefore cannot convince. Instead, Hume represents a moderate form (→ Skepticism # David Hume ), which he calls "academic skepticism", since it was first represented by members of Plato's Academy in Athens, namely by Arkesilaos (approx. 315–240 BC) and Karneades of Cyrene (approx. 215–130 BC), then also of Cicero (106–43 BC).

Freedom and determinism

Hume's reflections on freedom and determinism in the eighth essay set the course for analytical philosophy in the 20th century by reducing the philosophers' dispute in this regard to a dispute over words and distinguishing between two perspectives: while the historian can explain an action causally (of course only with a certain probability), the agent himself can perceive his decision as free and undetermined.

According to Hume, animals also learn through observation and experience, through habit and ultimately belief. What is regarded as peculiar to animals, their instinct , is not at all that extraordinary in comparison to humans : Hume maintains "even our rational activity on the basis of experience that we have in common with animals and on which the whole way of life depends, [for] nothing but some kind of instinct or mechanical force […]. The instincts may be different, but it is an instinct “that is useful to humans and animals in the practical way of life (9th essay).

Criticism of religion

Hume's criticism of belief in miracles (10th essay) is famous , which he bases on the fact that he defines miracles as a violation of natural laws , which is impossible. Then he criticizes the credibility of historical miracle testimonies, and thus presents approaches to source criticism in modern history .

His eleventh essay in this volume already points to the costs incurred in the 1750s, but only posthumously published Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion ( Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion ) for: proofs and theodicy cause for Hume in paradoxes , the positive social impact of religion could be to accept their justification, as long as superstition and fanaticism do not destroy this usefulness.

Hume concludes with the demand to reevaluate the existing knowledge on the basis of his skeptical principles by asking two questions for each volume - especially the theological and metaphysical literature:

“ Does it contain any abstract train of thought about size or number? No. Does it contain any experiential train of thought about facts and existence? No. Well, throw it into the fire, because it can contain nothing but delusion and deception. "

- David Hume

literature

expenditure
  • David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding . In: David Hume: Inquiries concerning Human Understanding and concerning the Principles of Morals . Edited by Lewis A. Selby-Bigge, note by Peter H. Nidditch, 3rd ed., Oxford 1975, ISBN 0-19-824536-X .
  • David Hume: An Inquiry into the Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th edition, Meiner, Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-7873-1155-6 .
Interpretations
  • Rudolf Lüthe: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding . In: Franco Volpi (Hrsg.): Großes Werklexikon der Philosophie . Kröner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-520-83901-6 , Vol. 1: A – K, pp. 712f.
  • Jens Kulenkampff (ed.): David Hume. An investigation into the human mind . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-05-002866-1 (Classics Explaining, Vol. 8).
  • Gerhard Streminger: David Hume. "An Inquiry into the Human Mind". An introductory comment . Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 1995, ISBN 3-8252-1825-2 .

Web links

Wikisource: David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the full text available online: David Hume: Investigation into Subject of the Human Mind . (An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748, translation: JH von Kirchmann, Berlin 1869).
  2. ↑ So the editor Johann Georg Sulzer in: David Hume: Philosophical experiments over the human knowledge ... Hamburg 1755, SI cf. Heiner F. Klemme: The practical meaning of metaphysical investigations . In: Jens Kulenkampff (Ed.): David Hume. An investigation into the human mind . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1997, pp. 19–35, here p. 31.
  3. ↑ Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason . A 377f. Kant called Hume there, based on Sulzer's formulation, a "benefactor of human reason".
  4. ↑ David Hume: An Inquiry into the Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th ed., Meiner, Hamburg 1993. The translation by Raoul Richter dates from 1907 and was adopted unchanged, as it was "all in all a faithful transmission", according to the editor in the introduction, p. XXV.
  5. ↑ James Fieser also gives a brief summary of the individual sections: David Hume (1711–1776): Metaphysics and Epistemology ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy , 2004. The individual essays are discussed in detail in Jens Kulenkampff (Ed.): David Hume. An investigation into the human mind . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-05-002866-1 (Classics Explaining, Vol. 8). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iep.utm.edu
  6. ↑ David Hume: An Inquiry into the Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th edition, Meiner, Hamburg 1993, p. 34. Italics in the original.
  7. ↑ The third section spans pp. 24–34 in: David Hume: An Inquiry into Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th edition, Meiner, Hamburg 1993. From the 1770 edition onwards, pp. 26–34 were completely missing.
  8. ↑ David Hume: An Inquiry into the Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th edition, Meiner, Hamburg 1993, p. 90.
  9. ↑ Cf. Heiner F. Klemme: David Hume for an introduction . Junius, Hamburg 2007, pp. 72-82.
  10. ↑ See Paul Russell: Hume on Free Will . In: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , December 14, 2007.
  11. ↑ David Hume: An Inquiry into the Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th edition, Meiner, Hamburg 1993, p. 126f.
  12. ↑ See Michael Levine: Miracles . In: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , September 16, 2005; and Gerhard Streminger: David Hume's miracle analysis . In: Enlightenment and Criticism 2, 2003, pp. 205–224 ( PDF , 78 kB).
  13. ↑ Jens Kulenkampff: David Hume . 2nd edition, Beck, Munich 1989, pp. 21f.
  14. ↑ See Paul Russell: Hume on Religion . In: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , October 4, 2005.
  15. ↑ David Hume: An Inquiry into the Human Mind . Translated by Raoul Richter, ed. by Jens Kulenkampff. 12th edition, Meiner, Hamburg 1993, p. 193. Italics in the original.
  16. ↑ One common edition in English and German, which are often used for referencing, is named here, for example in Jens Kulenkampff (Ed.): David Hume. An investigation into the human mind . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-05-002866-1 (Classics Explaining, Vol. 8).