Philosopher David Hume is inarguably one of the greatest philosophers ever to write in the English language. One of his arguments is against the fact that our senses give us a reliable belief of the external world. He claims that “we know an object exists when we’re sensing it, because we’re sensing it.” (Lecture Cordero) This then raises the question, though, that how can we know, because of our senses, that a thing exists if we’re not sensing it? Through examining Hume’s argument that our senses do not rationally justify our belief in the external world, one may achieve a greater understanding of the philosophical and moral implications of such a claim, as well as evaluate its validity and coherence, and decide whether or not they are to accept this view and allow it to influence their everyday perception of the world.
Hume says “the crooked appearance of an oar in water”, “the various aspects of objects”, and “the double images which arise from the pressing one eye” (Hume) are prime examples of how our senses deceive us. He continues that “we must correct their evidence by reason, and by considerations, derived from the nature of the medium, the distance of the object, and the disposition of the organ, in order to render them, within their sphere, the proper criteria of truth and falsehood” (Hume). So, even though our senses deceive us, we can use our brains to “out-think” them and come up with rational explanations as to why things appear the way they do. He then states that “It seems evident, that men are carried, by a natural instinct or prepossession, to repose faith in their senses; and that, without any reasoning, or even almost before the use of reason, we always suppose an external universe, which depends not on our perception, but would exist, though we and every sensible creature were absent or annihilated” (Hume) Which induces him to say, “It seems also evident, that, when men follow this blind and powerful instinct of nature, they always suppose...