The Problems of Philosophy · Character

Hume

The empiricist who pushed experience to its limits and found that induction, causation, and the self all rest on nothing firmer than habit.

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First appearance: vi on induction

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Referenced in relation to the principle of induction and general principles of inference.

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Hume is the quiet destabilizer of the book's middle chapters: if all knowledge comes from experience, what justifies our confidence that the sun will rise tomorrow or that one event causes another? Russell treats Hume's skepticism not as a dead end but as the honest residue that philosophy must confront, and his questions about induction and causation shape the problem of our knowledge of the external world. He matters because he shows how far empiricism can go before it begins to undermine itself—and because Russell's own answers are measured against that limit.

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Bishop Berkeley
professional · ambivalent
Berkeley and Hume are philosophers with overlapping empiricist ideas, though Hume extends… How this plays out →

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See Hume in vi on induction

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Hume appears across 5 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Problems of Philosophy
Referenced in relation to the principle of induction and general principles of inference.
VII: On Our Knowledge of General Principles
Mentioned as part of the British empiricist school, which maintained that all knowledge is derived from experience.
How a Priori Knowledge Is Possible
Hume is mentioned as a precursor to Kant, who argued that the connection of cause and effect is not a priori and cannot be logically deduced, challenging rationalist assumptions.
IX: The World of Universals
Hume is mentioned alongside Berkeley as failing to perceive the refutation of their rejection of abstract ideas, due to ignoring relations as universals.
Bibliographical Note
Recommended work: Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

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See Hume in vi on induction

See Hume in The Problems of Philosophy