David Hume: Difference between revisions
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'''David Hume's contribution to the notion of spontaneous order''' | '''David Hume's contribution to the notion of spontaneous order''' | ||
Hume advocates the concept of spontaneous order by arguing that all human knowledge comes to us through our perceptions or experiences: "By the term impression, then, I mean all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or | Hume advocates the concept of spontaneous order by arguing that all human knowledge comes to us through our perceptions or experiences: "By the term impression, then, I mean all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will” [[Sources| [2]]]. He considers that it is our experiences that model our behavior and not our reason. It is impossible, Hume argues, for a pure and unaided human reason to know the required legal and moral norms of a social order. Hume argues that any improvements of men "must rest not on a utopian reformation of the manners of mankind but on obervations and experience of those rules that best serve men's more or less changing needs" [[Sources| [2]]]. | ||
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Hume also advocated the unequal distribution of property,as perfect equality would result in impoverishment since people would no longer thrift and diligently work to better themselves [[Sources| [15]]]. Smith actually write in the ''The Wealth of Nations'' that Hume was the only writer so far to have noticed the connection between the market | Hume also advocated the unequal distribution of property,as perfect equality would result in impoverishment since people would no longer thrift and diligently work to better themselves [[Sources| [15]]]. Smith actually write in the ''The Wealth of Nations'' that Hume was the only writer so far to have noticed the connection between the market as order and good government[[Sources| [14]]]. | ||
<p align="center"> [[General Overview]] | [[Major Contributors]] | [[Game Theory Models]] | [[Objections/Arguments]] | [[Sources]]</p> | <p align="center"> [[General Overview]] | [[Major Contributors]] | [[Game Theory Models]] | [[Objections/Arguments]] | [[Sources]]</p> | ||
Revision as of 00:09, 17 May 2006
Biography
David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian and one of the most important thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment. His most important works are A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to introduce the experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects (1739–40), Essays Moral and Political (first ed. 1741–2), An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751). [More on David Hume] [15].
David Hume's contribution to the notion of spontaneous order
Hume advocates the concept of spontaneous order by arguing that all human knowledge comes to us through our perceptions or experiences: "By the term impression, then, I mean all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will” [2]. He considers that it is our experiences that model our behavior and not our reason. It is impossible, Hume argues, for a pure and unaided human reason to know the required legal and moral norms of a social order. Hume argues that any improvements of men "must rest not on a utopian reformation of the manners of mankind but on obervations and experience of those rules that best serve men's more or less changing needs" [2].
In Hume’s opinion, rules are not deliberately established. Rather, they are socially adopted as the benefit people gain from respecting a certain cooperative behavior is larger then the cost of not doing so [4]. Hume considers that humans have limited altruism, and just like Adam Smith, he argues in favor of establishing property rights, as private property is a limited good. The adoption of property rights is thus in the public's best interest. However, this cannot be achieved through rationalist calculations [2].
Hume also advocated the unequal distribution of property,as perfect equality would result in impoverishment since people would no longer thrift and diligently work to better themselves [15]. Smith actually write in the The Wealth of Nations that Hume was the only writer so far to have noticed the connection between the market as order and good government [14].
General Overview | Major Contributors | Game Theory Models | Objections/Arguments | Sources
