Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice
Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” opens with an argument that is supposed to show how “all knowledge degenerates into probability” (T 1.4.1.1; SBN 180). While compelling with respect to demonstrative knowledge, commentators disagree over whether the argument plausibly extends to intuitiv...
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2024-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://jmphil.org/article/id/1959/ |
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| author | Benjamin Nelson |
| author_facet | Benjamin Nelson |
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| description | Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” opens with an argument that is supposed to show how “all knowledge degenerates into probability” (T 1.4.1.1; SBN 180). While compelling with respect to demonstrative knowledge, commentators disagree over whether the argument plausibly extends to intuitive knowledge. This disagreement, I contend, is the result of mistakenly treating intuitions as a uniform class. Distinguishing what I call (i) philosophical intuitions from (ii) vulgar intuitions allows us to see why only the latter are subject to degeneration. That the former survive degeneration, however, is no objection to Hume’s argument. Demonstrative knowledge is possible in principle because philosophical intuitions are certain. Accepting this much at the outset, Hume calls on recollected errors to show how, in practice, all knowledge degenerates to probability. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c9ba0479550b4a9e89a74ff7493e750a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-0652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Aperio |
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| series | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-c9ba0479550b4a9e89a74ff7493e750a2025-01-31T16:09:07ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522024-03-016010.25894/jmp.1959Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in PracticeBenjamin Nelson0University of ConnecticutHume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” opens with an argument that is supposed to show how “all knowledge degenerates into probability” (T 1.4.1.1; SBN 180). While compelling with respect to demonstrative knowledge, commentators disagree over whether the argument plausibly extends to intuitive knowledge. This disagreement, I contend, is the result of mistakenly treating intuitions as a uniform class. Distinguishing what I call (i) philosophical intuitions from (ii) vulgar intuitions allows us to see why only the latter are subject to degeneration. That the former survive degeneration, however, is no objection to Hume’s argument. Demonstrative knowledge is possible in principle because philosophical intuitions are certain. Accepting this much at the outset, Hume calls on recollected errors to show how, in practice, all knowledge degenerates to probability.https://jmphil.org/article/id/1959/SkepticismReasonKnowledgeDemonstrationIntuitionDegeneration |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin Nelson Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice Journal of Modern Philosophy Skepticism Reason Knowledge Demonstration Intuition Degeneration |
| title | Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice |
| title_full | Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice |
| title_fullStr | Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice |
| title_short | Hume’s “Of scepticism with regard to reason” and the Degeneration of Knowledge in Practice |
| title_sort | hume s of scepticism with regard to reason and the degeneration of knowledge in practice |
| topic | Skepticism Reason Knowledge Demonstration Intuition Degeneration |
| url | https://jmphil.org/article/id/1959/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benjaminnelson humesofscepticismwithregardtoreasonandthedegenerationofknowledgeinpractice |