David Hume’s

Concept
of a Self
Prepared by:
Janice Aguilar & Glydel Gabanto
David Hume

 Born on May 7, 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland

and died on August 25, 1776 at the age of 65
 He Spent his childhood at Ninewells (Scotland)

 His mother sent him in Edinburgh University. He

studied Latin and Greek, history and Literature, ancient
and modern philosophy, mathematics and natural
philosophy.
David Hume
 At the age of 23, he begin writing “A Treatise of
Human Nature”. He then write “An Enquiry
Concerning Human Understanding Appeared” and
“History of England”.

 In 1775, he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer

and died on 1776.
Did you know
your “Self”?
What can you say
about these
words?
 Let us now
discover and
learn!
Hume’s Concept of the self does not only differ from but runs
counter to Descartes’s and the other philosophers of the self such as
Plato and Aristotle.
Because for Hume, There is no such thing as
a “SELF”.

And for Hume, the concept of a self is an

illusion.
First we need to clarify the terms Soul and Mind.

According to Plato, Aristotle and Descartes, Soul or Mind refer to

a thing or substance which is supposed to be in variably the same
through time.

So, Soul or Mind deceives mental states such as

Thinking, Analyzing, Imagining.

Therefore, it states that the “I”, that is, “THE SELF”

is the same all throughout one’s lifetime.
For Hume, if we posses these substance, then we must have an
“impression” of it.

For Hume, therefore the term soul, mind, or self is one of

those meaningless words that we utter.

Philosophers argued only about the “words” simply

because neither of them knows exactly what a soul,
mind, or self is.

They don’t experience it concretely in the first place,

according to Hume.
For Hume, if we posses these substance, then we must have an
“impression” of it.

For Hume, therefore the term soul, mind, or self is one of

those meaningless words that we utter.

Philosophers argued only about the “words” simply

because neither of them knows exactly what a soul,
mind, or self is.

They don’t experience it concretely in the first place,

according to Hume.
How did Hume arrive at
the idea that there is no
such thing as the idea of
the “self?
We have to remember!

Hume neither affirms nor denies the idea of the self.

For Hume, talking about the self simply doesn’t make

sense.
Theory of Ideas
As John Locke said, IDEAS come from sensation and reflection.

But Hume calls it as an impression.

So, impression means idea.

For Hume, we can have an idea, that is, an impression,

of something if we experience it concretely.
Theory of Ideas
Still according to Hume:

There is a multiplicity of ideas; yet all these ideas

are linked together that form a coherent whole.

This is made possible by the “Laws of Association”

There are 3 “Laws of Association”, the Resemblance,

Contiguity in Time or Place, and Cause and Effect.