Hume s Argument For The Idea Of Self Or Selfhood

Study Questions: Exam #3 Hume: Identity 1. 3. Hume’s argument for the idea of self or selfhood is that we are just a â€Å"bundle† of perceptions. Our perceptions and experiences are what make us, us. In simplistic terms, not one impression is constant; therefore, we are not one enduring self because our impressions are always changing. He uses the example of links in a chain; all different pieces making up one thing (Perry, 179-182). 2. Hume’s strict empiricism (theory that all knowledge is derivative from sense-experience) comes into play in his rejection of an enduring self when he claims that we cannot always trust our senses and that our senses can â€Å"fool† us. Therefore, how can an enduring self be possible without experience from the senses? (Perry, 178-181) also referred to (Perry, 231). 4. 5. According to Hume, we tend to confuse impressions for ideas. Not one impression is consistent and constant, but ideas can be. This is where people can get the two confused. Impressions relate to feelings while ideas relate to thinking. Ideas are mainly tiny copies of impressions, meaning they are less forceful and less vivacious. We tend to mistake that we have personal identity in the sense that our impressions make us who we are, when in fact, not one impression is constant and consistent; we have many impressions that add up to who we are in this exact moment. People tend to mistake our personal identity as our impressions and who we are now is who we were in the past, when