The practicality of Hume’s philosophy lies in his belief that people’s experience of life is dictated by the experiences they’ve had and the perceptions that have been formed as a result of those experiences. When we change the way we perceive the world around us we can change our entire experience for the better.
Religion and Philosophy
Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous
- When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities
- The identity that we ascribe to things is only a fictitious one, established by the mind, not a peculiar nature belonging to what we’re talking about
- Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty
- Every individual ought to acquiesce in his own sentiment, without pretending to regulate those of others
Government is founded on opinion
As force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion.
- It is therefore, on opinion only that government is founded.
- This applies to the most despotic and most military governments as well as the most free and most popular.
- The emperor of Rome might drive his subjects against their will, but he must at least have led his mamelukes, or Pretorian bands, like men, by their opinion.
When I shall be dead, the principles of which I am composed will still perform their part in the universe, and will be equally useful in the grand fabric, as when they composed this individual creature.
The difference to the whole will be no greater betwixt my being in a chamber and in the open air. The one change is of more importance to me than the other.
A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence
Does a man of sense run after every silly tale of hobgoblins or fairies, and canvass particularly the evidence?
