This 5 page paper focuses on Hume's ideas about cause and effect. Locke's idea about power is duly noted and compared and contrasted with that of Hume. The concept of fate is discussed in depth and the issue of free will vs. determinism is at the center of that discussion. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
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appears rather foreign to most but what was used by Hume when discussing such matters. For Hume, impressions lead to ideas. In some way, the ideas are what is the
end result of the impression. For example, on a recent television commercial, a man is standing in the kitchen with a knife in one hand and a cat in the
other with blood everywhere. Of course, this is preceded by the cat getting into the ketchup while the owner is in the kitchen cooking. He grabs the cat and it
appears that he has murdered it as someone walks in, but in reality, he was simply trying to avoid a spill. However, while this man was completely innocent, he looked
quite guilty. The woman who walks in has the impression that this man killed her cat. That impression may lead to the idea that he is crazy or violent. Thoughts
may stir and create an entire illusion from one impression. In such a scenario, someone walks into a situation and a man may explain "It is not how it looks."
That is an understatement. There is an impression and then the ideas flow from that. In exploring these concepts, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, by David Hume (2001), may
be helpful. In his classic volume, Hume demonstrates that people know the causes of events but that this knowledge is really perhaps based on belief. In other words,
people cannot really know what causes events. What Hume explains is essentially that man looks at an event and surmises a cause. For instance, one may see a husbands car
parked in front of a female acquaintances apartment complex and assume that he is having an affair. Yet, that is not a valid conclusion as it is based on conjecture.