A Treatise of Human Nature · Chapter
Section VIII: Of the Causes of Belief explained
Hume investigates the origin of belief, proposing that it arises from a present impression that communicates vivacity to related ideas.
What happens
Hume investigates the origin of belief, proposing that it arises from a present impression that communicates vivacity to related ideas. He supports this with experiments on resemblance and contiguity, and argues that belief is a product of custom and habit, not reason. He concludes that all probable reasoning is a species of sensation, and that past experience operates insensibly to produce belief.
Themes in this chapter
Custom and General Rules
Hume argues that belief is derived from custom and habit, not from rational inference, and that past experience operates insensibly.
Empiricism and the Primacy of Impressions
The chapter emphasizes the role of present impressions in enlivening ideas and producing belief, highlighting the empirical basis of knowledge.
Characters to notice
- David Hume
Author and narrator, presenting his theory of belief and its causes.
Key passages
“When any impression becomes present to us, it not only transports the mind to such ideas as are related to it, but likewise communicates to them a share of its force and vivacity.”
A present impression not only leads the mind to related ideas but also transfers some of its own liveliness to them.
This is the core principle Hume sets out to prove.
“All probable reasoning is nothing but a species of sensation.”
All reasoning about probabilities is essentially a matter of feeling, not logic.
Hume concludes that belief is based on sentiment, not rational deduction.
“The custom operates before we have time for reflection.”
Habit works so quickly that we are not aware of it before it influences our thinking.
This illustrates the insensible operation of custom in producing belief.