Argument Quote by David Hume
“..all arguments concerning existence are founded on the relation of cause and effect; that our knowledge of that relation is derived entirely from experience; and all our experimental conclusions proceed upon the supposition that the future will be conformable to the past. … Without the influence of custom, we should be entirely ignorant of every matter of fact beyond what is immediately present to the memory and senses.”
About This Quote
Source Treat: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748
Our knowledge of cause and effect comes from experience, assuming the future will resemble the past; without habit we’d know only what we directly perceive.
In simple terms: We learn causality through habit, not logic, and assume the future repeats the past.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions about causality and seek evidence.
Themes
philosophy
epistemology
science
Mood
skeptical
analytical
Type
reflective
inquisitive
When to use this quote
- daily decision making
- scientific research
- risk assessment
- policy planning
Key Concepts
empiricism
induction
habitual learning
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you test the reliability of past patterns?
- What role does intuition play in forming causal beliefs?
A Different Perspective
Assumes past patterns reliably predict future events, which may not hold in novel contexts.
