Basic Explanation of Hume’s Theory of the Perception
In his book and essay, Hume attempts to give a full account on the identity or self, and in so doing explains his theory of human perceptions. He introduces his perception theory by pointing out that contrary to many people’s beliefs, there is no proof to ascertain that we have a conscious identity or the self. Instead, our personal identities comprises of many different impressions and ideas to which the self is a reference of (Hume, 1). As a result, without perceptions, we inevitably have no existence of the self. It is this concept of the self then introduces the bundle of perceptions theory.
The theory of perception according to Hume is best explained as being a bundle. What then do I mean by this concept of bundle? The human kind is made up of a collection of different perceptions to which the mind associates with. Our perceptions are all different and more so distinguishable from each other. This means that perceptions can be considered and even exist separately. However, Hume believes that these separate and different perceptions collectively “succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in perpetual flux and movement” (Hume, 2).Despite being separable and unique by themselves, human perceptions, ideas, or impressions are all somehow connected to each other.
In this connectivity, humans are able to experience the world in a unique manner through perceptions, impressions and (or) ideas. When individuals encounter an event or object, our minds acts as a theater in which the different perceptions about the object will make their appearances (Hume, 2). This is made possible through acts of imagination by which the human mind perceives the succession of the related objects and (or) events. This relation to connected events and objects facilitates for the mind transitioning from a particular object or event to the other. This is as long as the event goes on invariably and uninterrupted for a particular amount of time (Hume, para. 6). In his argument, he explains that the aspect of imagination solemnly explains why human beings form general and abstract impressions (Cottrell, para. 2). It is how the mind is able to form sympathy on other’s experiences, form resemblance, and causation.
An example is of an individual passing through his childhood neighborhood thirty years later. As he passes by, he notices a playground in the alleys. However different it may be, the mind immediately draws a resemblance to past perceptions of how the playground used to be like. Immediately, the individual remembers that the particular play area is that which he used to play soccer in with his friends while he was six. In this instance, like many others, the mind, through our memories draws resemblance from images of past perceptions as images similar to objects in a thought chain. This process, as explained by Hume, conveys imagination from one chain link to another enabling memory to make a resemblance relation among different perceptions (Hume, para. 18). However, different though links occur in individuals’ minds through causation.
Our human impressions give rise to different thought of ideas, objects and events. Our minds process experiences from recollecting past perceptions through imagination to form different impressions on various issues. Through the process thought, it is impossible to associate the self as a “stable, unchanging entity, independent of mental perceptions” as it is the very changing, different but separable perceptions that influence our mental process thought. In fact, as Hume said, we are barely aware of ourselves and as thus can only be conscious of what we experience (Hume, 13). Therefore, we are not stable entities but the self-identity reflects the chain link of our perceptions through imagination to create different impressions, which are constantly changing.
Works Cited
Cottrell, Jonathan. “David Hume: Imagination” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/hume-ima/#SH2b
Hume, David. “Of Personal Identity” From a Treatise of Human Nature, 1739, Book 1, Part IV, pp.1-4, https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/hume/enquiry.pdf
Hume, David. “Of Personal Identity” From a Treatise of Human Nature, 1739, Book 1, Part IV, para.1-21, http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/Treatisel.iv.vi.htm
Bibliography
Hume, David. “Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” Jonathan Bennett, July 2004, http://commons.princenton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/133/2019/08/Hume-David_Of-Personal-Identity.pdf