Hume on Causation (Problems of Philosophy) by Helen Beebee


Hume on Causation (Problems of Philosophy)
Title : Hume on Causation (Problems of Philosophy)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0415243394
ISBN-10 : 9780415243391
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 248
Publication : First published February 28, 2006

Hume is traditionally credited with inventing the ‘regularity theory’ of causation, according to which the causal relation between two events consists merely in the fact that events of the first kind are always followed by events of the second kind. Hume is also traditionally credited with two other, hugely influential the view that the world appears to us as a world of unconnected events, and inductive the view that the ‘problem of induction’, the problem of providing a justification for inference from observed to unobserved regularities, is insoluble. Hume on Causation is the first major work dedicated to Hume’s views on causation in over fifteen years, and it argues that Hume does not subscribe to any of these three views. It places Hume’s interest in causation within the context of his theory of the mind and his theory of causal reasoning, arguing that Hume’s conception of causation derives from his conception of the nature of the inference from causes to effects.

Hume on Causation (Problems of Philosophy) Reviews

  • Richard Newton<span class=

    This book, as it's title suggests, focuses on one aspect of David Hume's philosophy and that is his thinking on causation. This is a bedrock of undergraduate and post graduate philosophy in the philosophy of science, and something no doubt millions and millions of words have been written about. Beebee has written a good addition to those millions of words.

    I think of philosophy books in two categories. There are those that focus on ideas and arguments and a specific area - such as induction and causation, and there are those that focus on a textual interpretation of a specific philosopher's viewpoints. These are obviously closely related, but the emphasis in the books is different. Beebee's book is very much in the latter category - focusing on determining what exactly was is that Hume argues for. In this it is good and for anyone who has read much philosophy reasonably accessible and clear. It's definitely not an introductory text though. The book requires careful reading, and its easy to lose one's way if one does not.

    It covers some aspects that are not usually covered in philosophy courses - for instance what type of context was Hume arguing in and what are the targets he was seeking to overthrow, (in some cases target ideas that we don't even consider nowadays), this is very helpful context.

    Although it does very briefly overview the background of Hume's writing, this is very much for the reader who is already familiar with Hume, particularly the Treatise of Human Nature and Enquiries concerning Human Understanding. A reader without good familiarity with the relevant parts of at least one of those volumes will struggle in my view.

  • Elaine

    puts stroud/noonan/garrett in dialogue