6 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2017
    1. ’Tis evident, that all the sciences have a relation, greater or less, to human nature; and that however wide any of them may seem to run from it, they still return back by one passage or another. Even Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Natural Religion, are in some measure dependent on the science of Man; since they lie under the cognizance of men, and are judged of by their powers and faculties.

      Hume is arguing that almost everything relates to human nature and we can find lots of things from these sciences that come from human nature. He says men of science are criticized by states and governments. Hume's audience is English readers which is later translated into other European countries. David Hume makes a great point that we should be skeptical and we should question why things are the way they are. This goes with metaphysics. His weakness are that its hard to understand his writing or at least it took a couple of reads for me to understand the point that he was trying to make. Overall, I think Hume was a critical thinker about why things came to be. As like most philosophers during his time, he was not liked by governments because he raised questions about liberties and rights.

    1. 82. Imagination.—It is that deceitful part in man, that mistress of error and falsity, the moredeceptive that she is not always so; for she would be an infallible rule of truth, if she were aninfallible rule of falsehood. But being most generally false, she gives no sign of her nature,impressing the same character on the true and the false.I do not speak of fools, I speak of the wisest men; and it is among them that the imaginationhas the great gift of persuasion. Reason protests in vain; it cannot set a true value on things.

      Pascal says imagination for people who are not very educated is more a deception or falsehood. I don't agree with this. I think imagination can put true values on things. Imagining things that are realistic or common. He comes across as saying only wise men can use imagination as a gift of persuasion. Sometimes persuasion is not for the good.

    2. 70. Nature... —Nature has set us so well in the centre, that if we change one side of the balance,we change the other also. This makes me believe that the springs in our brain are so adjusted thathe who touches one touches also its contrary.71. Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give him too much, thesame

      I agree with Pascal that as humans we are the center and effect a lot more than we can see from our own perspectives.

    3. 60. First part: Misery of man without God.Second part: Happiness of man with God.Or, First part: That nature is corrupt. Proved by nature itself.Second part: That there is a Redeemer. Proved by Scripture.

      This direct discourse on man's relationship to God could have some parts added in to make it more understandable. The point he is trying to make is that we as humans are unhappy without God in our lives, but in fact there are millions of "atheists" around the world who might say they live happy lives.

    1. A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one Edition: current; Page: [196] having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection, unless the lord and master of them all should, by any manifest declaration of his will, set one above another, and confer on him, by an evident and clear appointment, an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.

      John Locke's description of the State and equality are all too Utopian. I don't think it is ideal to have a State without class systems. On the other hand, I think that his ideas are good and moral. The objective of his State is to have equality.

    1. can therefore assert that this island is larger than England and Scotland together

      Columbus claims that the island he found (Cuba) is larger than it actually is. I see him over exaggerating a lot of his discoveries in an attempt to get more funding.