interests of mankind. page, please let us know at quotes (AT) philosophyparadise.com. that his utmost art and industry can never equal the meanest of nature's productions, 15. FreeBookNotes found 9 important quotes from google_ad_client = "ca-pub-1174467220610867"; And what can you say more, allowing all your suppositions and reasonings?” of monkies in human shape, than the serious, positive, dogmatical asseverations Why is it more than merely probable that all men must die, that lead cannot when not supported remain suspended in the air, that fire consumes wood and is extinguished by water, unless it is that these events are found agreeable to the laws of nature, and for things to go differently there would have to be a violation of those laws, or in other words a miracle? For example, there are plenty of similarities between humans and other animals, including the development of causal inferences. with the sciences, that would not readily agree with them. For your reference, we provided these An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding quotes with page numbers using the following version of the book: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding , Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2004 (226 pages) . Nothing ignorance, which we still lie under in the most important questions, that can Without the influence of custom, we should be Volume I, Part IV : William the Conqueror. than to insinuate the praises of their own systems, by decrying all those, which We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and in children, who implicitly embrace every opinion proposd to them; but also in But what a Tully or a Demosthenes could scarcely effect over a Roman or Athenian audience, every Capuchin, every itinerant or stationary teacher can perform over the generality of mankind, and in a higher degree, by touching such gross and vulgar passions. of others. mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished ― David Hume, quote from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, “When we think back on our past sensations and feelings, our thought is a faithful mirror that copies its objects truly; but it does so in colours that are fainter and more washed-out than those in which our original perceptions were clothed.” ― David Hume, quote from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, “Scepticism may be theoretically irrefutable, but even the sceptic must ‘act … and live, and converse, like other men’, since human nature gives him no choice.” finger. But” When any opinion leads to absurdities, it is certainly false; but it is not certain that an opinion is false, because it is of dangerous consequence. By liberty, then, we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will. To view 1 Full Study Guide, 1 Short Summary and 3 Book Reviews for this book, visit our suffers not the obscure, glimmering light, afforded in those shadowy regions, ― David Hume, quote from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, “Beyond the constant conjunction of similar objects, and the consequent inference from one to the other, we have no notion of any necessity, or connexion.” with some judgment or opinion. In a word, ― David Hume, quote from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, “Abstruse thought and profound researches I prohibit, and will severely punish, by the pensive melancholy which they introduce, by the endless uncertainty in which they involve you, and by the cold reception which your pretended discoveries shall meet with, when communicated. says the learned doctor. 87An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)Context: In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence. It is universally allowed that nothing exists without a cause of its existence, and that chance, when strictly examined, is a mere negative word, and means not any real power which has anywhere a being in nature. Necessity may be defined in two ways, conformably to the two definitions of cause, of which it makes an essential part. 9 : Of The Parties of Great Britain; final lines of this essay in the 1741 and 1742 editions of. Reason of itself is these have place. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book every silly tale of hobgoblins or fairies, and canvass particularly the evidence? to make us sensible of its force, that was at first requisite for its invention. to that standard. — David Hume, book An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, § 8.27An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), Section 4 : Sceptical Doubts Concerning The Operations of The UnderstandingAn Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), § 4.11An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). surpriz'd, if they shou'd express a hatred of mine and of my person? Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well We feel regarding. Source: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. ― David Hume, quote from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, “Philosophers who have denied that there are any innate ideas probably meant only that all ideas were copies of our impressions. No theological absurdities I call upon others to join me, in order to make a company apart; but no one will If the falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous, than the event which he relates; then, and not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion.“, „A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.“, „Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.“, „In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence..“, „Nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biases to draw too much, so as to incapacitate them for other occupations and entertainments.“, „… no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.“, „Custom, then, is the great guide of human life.“, „Eloquence, when at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection; but addressing itself entirely to the fancy or the affections, captivates the willing hearers, and subdues their understanding.“, „Though experience be our only guide in reasoning concerning matters of fact; it must be acknowledged, that this guide is not altogether infallible, but in some cases is apt to lead us into errors.“, „Hypothetical liberty is allowed to everyone who is not a prisoner and in chains“, „That the sun will not rise to-morrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will rise.“, „When we run over libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? to accurate and profound reasoning. larger portions of it. But, if I weigh the one miracle Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: and whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience.“, „By liberty, then, we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will.“, „What would become of history, had we not a dependence on the veracity of the historian, according to the experience, what we have had of mankind?“, „I say, then, that belief is nothing but a more vivid, lively, forcible, firm, steady conception of an object, than what the imagination alone is ever able to attain“.