PLS2607
Assignment 2 Semester 1 2025
Unique #:
Due Date: 7 April 2025
Detailed solutions, explanations, workings
and references.
+27 81 278 3372
, HUME, LOGICAL POSITIVISM, AND THE REJECTION OF METAPHYSICS: A
CRITICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS
1. INTRODUCTION
David Hume, an influential figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, famously
declared that any form of metaphysics hinting at entities or realities beyond
sensory experience ought to “be cast into the flames” (Hume, 2000:12). Although
Hume wrote in the eighteenth century, his arguments foreshadowed the more
systematic stance taken by the Logical Positivists in the early twentieth century.
Both Hume and the Logical Positivists contended that statements which cannot
be grounded in sense experience or verifiable reasoning are effectively
meaningless. This essay explores Hume‟s criticisms of metaphysics, explains
how the Logical Positivists expanded upon these criticisms, and highlights both
the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments. By applying a dialectical
method—presenting Hume‟s and the Positivists‟ “thesis,” examining potential
“antithesis,” and seeking a concluding “synthesis”—the discussion aims to
illustrate why these philosophers viewed metaphysics with such suspicion, as well
as acknowledge where their views might be challenged.
2. HUME’S CRITIQUE OF METAPHYSICS
2.1. Emphasis on Sensory Experience
Hume (2000) grounded his philosophical investigations in the empirical method,
insisting that all genuine knowledge about the world must stem from sensory
impressions. According to Hume, ideas that cannot be reduced to original sense
impressions or combinations of them lack meaningful content (Hume, 2000:10).
Hence, for Hume, statements about entities beyond possible experience—such
as the essence of the soul, transcendent realities, or the ultimate nature of
causality—were suspect. They could not be traced back to any direct observation
or verifiable data (Hume, 2000:12).
In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume underscores the limits of
human reason, arguing that we can only meaningfully discuss what the senses
can confirm or what can be deduced by relations of ideas (such as mathematics
Varsity Cube 2024 +27 81 278 3372
Assignment 2 Semester 1 2025
Unique #:
Due Date: 7 April 2025
Detailed solutions, explanations, workings
and references.
+27 81 278 3372
, HUME, LOGICAL POSITIVISM, AND THE REJECTION OF METAPHYSICS: A
CRITICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS
1. INTRODUCTION
David Hume, an influential figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, famously
declared that any form of metaphysics hinting at entities or realities beyond
sensory experience ought to “be cast into the flames” (Hume, 2000:12). Although
Hume wrote in the eighteenth century, his arguments foreshadowed the more
systematic stance taken by the Logical Positivists in the early twentieth century.
Both Hume and the Logical Positivists contended that statements which cannot
be grounded in sense experience or verifiable reasoning are effectively
meaningless. This essay explores Hume‟s criticisms of metaphysics, explains
how the Logical Positivists expanded upon these criticisms, and highlights both
the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments. By applying a dialectical
method—presenting Hume‟s and the Positivists‟ “thesis,” examining potential
“antithesis,” and seeking a concluding “synthesis”—the discussion aims to
illustrate why these philosophers viewed metaphysics with such suspicion, as well
as acknowledge where their views might be challenged.
2. HUME’S CRITIQUE OF METAPHYSICS
2.1. Emphasis on Sensory Experience
Hume (2000) grounded his philosophical investigations in the empirical method,
insisting that all genuine knowledge about the world must stem from sensory
impressions. According to Hume, ideas that cannot be reduced to original sense
impressions or combinations of them lack meaningful content (Hume, 2000:10).
Hence, for Hume, statements about entities beyond possible experience—such
as the essence of the soul, transcendent realities, or the ultimate nature of
causality—were suspect. They could not be traced back to any direct observation
or verifiable data (Hume, 2000:12).
In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume underscores the limits of
human reason, arguing that we can only meaningfully discuss what the senses
can confirm or what can be deduced by relations of ideas (such as mathematics
Varsity Cube 2024 +27 81 278 3372
