Is Hume a Methodological Empiricist?

APSE-CEU-IVC Talks
The Philosophy Department of the Central European University, the Institute Vienna Circle and the Unit for Applied Philosophy of Science and Epistemology APSE (of the Department of Philosophy of the Universtiy of Vienna) are jointly organising a series of talks this term

Date: 17/06/2021

Time: 15h00

Online Plattform: The meeting will be online via Zoom | Talks in Philosophy of Science and Epistemology PSE

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Abstract:

The question broached in the title may sound odd. It makes sense to ask whether Hume's empiricism is successful, and whether it is the best way of rendering rigorous the (vague) empiricist view. But isn't it obvious that Hume is a methodological empiricist? To address this question, I will distinguish between the theoretical question, pertaining to the methodological view Hume endorses, and the practical question, concerned with the way he conducts his inquiry. My conclusion will be that only with respect to the first question is Hume an empiricist; that he is not a practicing empiricist, often violating his own empiricist decrees.