Uniformity Principle Hume

Uniformitarianism also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe. If X is the cause Y then Y will necessarily exist whenever X exists.

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Humes famous argument concerning induction Starts by showing that all probable inference is founded on the Uniformity Principle.

Uniformity principle hume. By appealing to these same principles throughout Hume gives an explanation of these diverse phenomena that enable him to provide a unified and economical account of the mind. This could fill the gap in the above inductive arguments. Every day in the past the sun has risen.

KANT ON THE UNIFORMITY OF NATURE In the Treatise of Human Nature1 Hume discusses two principles which underlie our causal inferences. Let us call this inference I. See the second paragraph 13814.

All observed instances of A have been B. He is saying that if there is some hidden power that enforces a continued regularity in physical laws it is beyond the power of our reason to detect it. There are only two kinds of arguments.

Hume is asking how knowledge of this sort could be possible. Hume explicitly models his account of the fundamental principles of the minds operationsthe principles of associationon the idea of gravitational attraction. In other words we might find evidence against a scientific claim not because it was incorrect when it was formulated but because Nature dramatically changed her rules sometime later or in a different region of the Universe.

Probable reasoning has no rational basis The uniformity of nature is the principle that the course of nature continues uniformly the same eg. Hume on the Principle of the Uniformity of Nature continued We expect nature to be uniform. It seems to me that Poppers solution does not address the more difficult problem of induction that Hume calls the Principle of Uniformity of Nature.

Demonstrative and probable Humes fork. Inference I presupposes the Uniformity Principle UP. The first is the principle of the universal validity of the causal connection.

Its exact formulation and justification is the problem of induction. In particular the uniformities observed in the past will hold for the present and future as well. Hume and the Lockean Background.

Inferences which fall under this type of schema are now often referred to as cases of simple enumerative induction. According to it every thing that begins to exist necessarily has a cause. Non-uniform nature is certainly conceivable so by Humes lights the uniformity and hence induction can not be necessary.

Hume called this the principle of uniformity of nature. In order to turn the argument above into one thats clearly acceptable it appears that tacitly rely upon some inductive principle to the effect that similar effects come from similar causes Hume p. Concerning the uniformity principle which Hume denies it is admittedly an idea difficult to uphold in the sense that we cannot readily define uniformity or make a generality of it.

Hume held that the reason explanation has to involve the conscious invocation of the Uniformity Principle when we make causal inferences. The second principle reads. Then draws from this the conclusion that probable inference is not founded on reason.

Logical and Spiritual REFLECTIONS. The principle seems to be presupposed in some form both by the reliance we put upon scientific prediction and by the certainties of everyday life. Hume is not necessarily claiming that there is no uniformity principle or that there is a good chance that the sun will not rise tomorrow.

The principle that the future will resemble the past in that when sufficiently similar situations recur similar effects follow. Humes argument concerns specific inductive inferences such as. The principle of induction.

It refers to invariance in the metaphysical principles underpinning science such as the constancy of. Adding this principle of the uniformity of nature in as a second premise we get something like the following. Then goes on to undermine every available kind of evidence for UP.

Induction and the Uniformity Principle David Owen Introduction What has come to be called Humes problem of induction is special in many ways. It has come to be one of the great standard problems ofphilosophy and. Basis for Humes denial that the Uniformity Principle can be founded on factual inference on the ground that such a breach of asymmetry would be going in a circle and taking that for granted which is the very point in question E36.

Humes argument then proceeds as follows premises are labeled as P and subconclusions and conclusions as C. 2 The traditional inductivist view is that all claimed empirical laws either in everyday life or through the scientific method can be justified through some form of reasoning. We believe that patterns of regularity observed in the past will continue to hold into the future.

Humes Problems with Induction. Indeed it is worth noting how exactly Humes words corroborate the claim that he is. It is arguably his most important and influential argument especially when seen in its overall context of the more general argument about causaUty.

But he does not seem to have held that the same is true of the association explanation. 197 or that there is a uniformity in nature Salmon p. This is called our belief in the Principle of the Uniformity of Nature PUN.

Hume certainly did not have in mind something like analytic necessity of Carnap although it might be the closest modern analog or possible worlds necessity of Kripke et al. Every particular cause. The future will be like the.

The next instance of A will be B.