Hume: Precursor of Modern Empiricism

David Hume is the most influential precursor of modern empiri­ cism. By modern empiricism, I intend a belief that all cognitive conflicts can be resolved, in principle, by either appeal to matters off act, via scientific procedure, or by appeal to some sets of natural or conventional standards, whether linguistic, mathematical, aes­ thetic or political. This belief itself is a consequent of an old appre­ hension that all synthetic knowledge is based on experience, and that the rest can be r...