Question

Philosophy:

Why did David Hume claim that: "...there is no self"? Was Hume's argument logically consistent? Why, or why not?

Answer 1

• Hume said there is no soul, it is an illusion created by our unfounded trust in cause and effect. Because our consciousness is constantly changing there is no ‘self’ which remains the same.
• Hume’s first attack on the self argues that there is no impression of the self. And if there is one, it is constantly in flux and hence there is no constant and non-changing thing which we can call the self.
• He said,“If any impression gives rise to the idea of self, that impression must continue invariably the same, through the whole course of our lives’ since self is supposed to exist after that manner. But there is no impression constant and invariable."
• Hume says that in an extremely deep sleep with no dreams that our perception of self ceases to exist. This means that if we remove all of our perceptions there is nothing left, no self. This brings up the question, what is it then that we think we are perceiving when we perceive the self.
• This thing which we refer to as the self, is nothing more than the perceptions which are available to our memory. We take these perceptions and recombine them into meaning and substance using our previous experience as a guide.
• Unfortunately, Hume says that this previous experience relies entirely on the principle of cause and effect which itself is not proof of its truth. We view them as a distinct thing but they are only “connected together by resemblance, contiguity, or causation.”
• Without memory of previous cause and effect relationships repeatedly happening we would not have made the conclusion that there is a self. Hence, there is no consistent unchanging self.
• Some philosophers ‘feel’ the self intimately, are certain of its existence “beyond the evidence of a demonstration, both of its perfect identity and simplicity”.That statement is a contradiction in itself.
• Hume recognized that the only conclusion was that the self just is the collection of perceptions. There is no independent entity which has those impressions that we can refer to as the self.Hume defines self as a constant change and a bunch of different perceptions based on our senses. David also referred this concept as the bundle theory. The bundle theory is the concept that all objects only consist of a collection of properties
• David was a strong Skeptic and believed the real world (if it even exists) is unknowable.Even though David believes we have no self, he does not believe that giving up ones identity is right. He believes that to have goals and dreams we must need to know we have a self as that is what drives us and too improve ourselves is good.
• David also believes that western society thinks too much about tomorrow when he feels we might not be here tomorrow. We should enjoy today and not worry about the future. However, we still need to have a sense of ourselves to have some satisfaction.
• The no self-view is the idea that individuals are continually changing and that there is no permanent idea of our self.Hume believes we get our knowledge from our senses and experiences.
• Therefore he believes that God does not existence because we have no sense or experience of God. Hume was raised by a Calvinist mother. He felt that the idea of our self was important and we could not give up the idea of ourselves.So,on one hand he says that there is no consistent self and on the other hand he claims that self is important.
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