The Missing Link in Hume's Account of Causal Reasoning
and Causal Belief
Book 1, Part 3:
Section 14. The Idea of
Necessary Connection
Paras. 5-11: What is
the source of the idea of necessity? Not
reason.
Paras. 15-21: A
recapitulation of the account of causal inference.
Paras. 28-30: Hume's
position restated.
Section 15. Normative
Hume's Rules to Judge of Causes and Effects
1. Contiguity in space and
time
2. Temporal priority.
3. Constant conjunction.
4. Same cause, same effect.
5. Like effects imply(?)
like causes.
6. Different effects must be due to differences
in causes.
7. In some cases, but not all, increases and
diminutions in causes produce corresponding increases and diminutions in
effects.
8. A time separation between a purported cause
and an effect shows that the first is not the sole cause of the effect. [This is a corollary of #1.]
Sect. 16: On the reason of animals
What kind of reasoning do
beasts exhibit? Do they need the faculty
of Reason to do it?
Do beasts have
knowledge? Do they have probable belief?
What does Hume mean by
"instinct of animals"? How
does animal instinct confirm Hume's view that belief in cause and effects does
not involve Reason?