Descartes and Hume

A detailed Summary of Descartes and Hume


Skepticism is the philosophical belief that doubts whether or not any of our knowledge is true. Hume as well as Descartes have a complex relationship with skepticism. In several of their works, the philosophers respond to skepticism through the use of skepticism. In Descartes' Fifth meditation he uses skepticism to address the idea of God. Hume uses skepticism in Section II of the Enquiry in order to discuss the origin of mans idea of God. The idea of a God is a very skeptical idea, Descartes has the most successful response to the question of if God exists due to the logic in is skepticism.

Hume wrote, "nothing, at first view, may seem more unbounded than the thought of man, which not only escapes all human power and authority, but is not even restrained within the limits of nature and reality." In this passage Hume is discussing the ideas that man has and the power of his mind. He goes on further to say that "while the body is confined to one planet, along which it creeps with pain and difficulty, the thought can in an instant transport us into the most distant regi


Hume believes that every idea comes from an impression, and the idea of God comes from the impression we get when we think about all that is good in the world. According to Hume, we take the ideas we have on wisdom and goodness, and we augment them into the idea of a God. Descartes believes that the idea of God is something that is already in our minds, and that we do not assume that God exists, we know he exists, just as we know that one plus one is two. Descartes response is more logical because of the examples he uses in order to relate to the existence of God. The examples Descartes use help to clarify his beliefs about God, and that is why Descartes response is the more successful of the two.

"Clearly the idea of God, that is the idea of a supremely perfect being, is one I discover to be no less within me than the idea of any figure or number." Descartes goes on further to say that "the existence of God ought to have for me at least the same degree of certainty that truths of mathematics had until now." Descartes is implying that the idea of a God actually exists s

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