Beyond Cartesian Doubt: Hume’s Reconciliation with Uncertainty and Its Philosophical Implications in the ‘Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

  1. In Section XII of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume says that “the Cartesian doubt… were it ever possible to be attained by any human creature (as it plainly is not) would be entirely incurable and no reasoning could ever bring us to a state of assurance and conviction upon any subject.” (p. 593) Explain (briefly) the ‘Cartesian doubt’ to which Hume is referring and (in greater length) why Hume thinks it is ‘incurable’ but not troubling for philosophy. Do this by making detailed reference to the aspects of Hume’s argument in the Enquiry most relevant to his view of Descartes’s philosophy. These might include the negative analysis of causation in Section IV; the naturalistic account of belief in Sections V and VII; and the discussion of free will in Section VIII, as well as Section XII.


Please directly quote from the book I’ve provided as much as you can.  I just need the page number in the parenthesis. i.e., (p. 42)

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