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David Hume

David Hume  ( April 26,

1711   –   August 25,

1776) was a Scottish 

philosopher ,economist, and

historian, as well as

an important figure of

Western philosophyand of the Scottish

Enlightenment 

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 An Enquiry Concerning Human

Understanding“By   the term impression, then, I mean all our more lively

 perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, orhate, or desire, or will. And impressions aredistinguished from ideas, which are the less lively

 perceptions, of which we are conscious, when we reflecton any of those sensations or movements abovementioned.“  

“It   seems a proposition, which will not admit of muchdispute, that all our ideas are nothing but copies of our

impressions, or, in other words, that it is impossible forus to think of anything, which we have not antecedentlyfelt, either by our external or internal senses.”  

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Utilitarianism

It was probably Hume who, along with his fellow membersof the Scottish Enlightenment, first advanced the ideathat the explanation of moral principles is to be sought inthe utility  they tend to promote. On the contrary, Humewas a moral sentimentalist and, as such, thought that

moral principles could not be intellectually justified.Some principles simply appeal to us and others don't;and the reason why utilitarian moral principles do appealto us is that they promote our interests and those of ourfellows, with whom we sympathize. Humans are hard-

wired to approve of things that help society  –  publicutility. Hume used this insight to explain how we evaluatea wide array of phenomena, ranging from socialinstitutions and government policies to character traitsand talents

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 Adam Smith (1723 – 1790)

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher,

the brewer, or the baker that we expect our

dinner, but from their regard to their own

interest. We address ourselves, not to theirhumanity but to their self-love, and never talk

to them of our own necessities but of their

advantages. 

(Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of theWealth of Nations, 1776 )

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Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Enlightenment  philosophers chose a short history ofscientific predecessors—Galileo, Boyle, and Newtonprincipally—as the guides and guarantors of theirapplications of the singular concept of Nature  andNatural Law to every physical and social field of the day.

In this respect, the lessons of history and the socialstructures built upon it could be discarded.

It was Newton’s  conception of the universe based uponNatural and rationally understandable laws that becamethe seed for Enlightenment ideology. Locke and Voltaire 

applied concepts of Natural Law to political systemsadvocating intrinsic rights; the physiocrats  and  AdamSmith  applied Natural conceptions of psychology  andself-interest  to economic systems and the sociologists criticised the current social order   for trying to fit historyinto Natural models of progress 

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Classicism / Neoclassicism

 Ancient Greeks:

 Art is an imitation of nature.

Nature exists outside the artist’s mind, so

the primary concern is external reality.

How do we judge an imitation ?

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Classical/neoclassical view on art

 Art should seek to be objective.

The aim of art: to know.

What is imagination, then, to the Classical

writer ?

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 Aristotle’s Poetica

The artist ―is creative according to a true

idea‖. 

The character of art is governed by one’s

conception of what it imitates.

The ancient Greeks succeedeed in creating

philosophy as we know it: the essential

character of nature is made up of universal

forms and principles.

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 Art vs. Nature

 Art, as an imitation of what is essential innature, is therefore concerned withpersisting, objective forms.

 Art focuses on what is permanent andordered rather than isolated and particular.

Hence, poetry is ―more philosophical‖ than

history.Poetry is concerned with the ―ideal‖. What is

the ―ideal‖ ? 

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Poetry in Classicism

Poetry is concerned with ―what ought to be‖.

The ―ideal‖, in most classical writing, refersto the way things would be if the form, the

principle, that is operating through themwere carried out to its completion or logicalfulfillment.

Poetry, says Aristotle, rests upon twoinstincts in man—the instinct for imitation,and the instinct for harmony. 

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Classicism and Neoclassicism

 Art attempts to duplicate nature, within the

particular medium into which it is transposing its

subject.

The classical term "imitation" is thus to be viewedin a flexible, imaginative way. In the middle and

late eighteenth century, the meaning of the word

"imitation" became narrower, and it was then set

up in opposition to words like "creativity" and"originality."

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 Alexander Pope, Essay on

Criticism (1711) I.General qualities needed by the critic (1-200):

A.Awareness of his own limitations (46-67).

B.Knowledge of Nature in its general forms (68-87). 

1.Nature defined (70-79).

2.Need of both wit and judgment to conceive it (80-87).

C.Imitation of the Ancients, and the use of rules (88-200).1.Value of ancient poetry and criticism as models (88-103). 

2.Censure of slavish imitation and codified rules (104-117).

3.Need to study the general aims and qualities of the Ancients(118-140).

4.Exceptions to the rules (141-168).

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 Alexander Pope, Essay on

Criticism (1711)II.Particular laws for the critic (201-559):

Digression on the need for humility ( 201-232  ).

A.Consider the work as a total unit (233-252).

B.Seek the author's aim (253-266).

C.Examples of false critics who mistake the part for the whole (267-383).

1.The pedant who forgets the end and judges by rules (267-288).2.The critic who judges by imagery and metaphor alone (289-304).

3.The rhetorician who judges by the pomp and color of the diction (305-336).

4.Critics who judge by versification only (337-343).Pope's digression to exemplify "representative meter" ( 344-383 ). 

D.Need for tolerance and for aloofness from extremes of fashion andpersonal mood (384-559). 

1.The fashionable critic: the cults, as ends in themselves, of the foreign (398-405), the new (406-423), and the esoteric (424-451).

2.Personal subjectivity and its pitfalls (452-559).

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 Alexander Pope, Essay on

Criticism (1711)

III.The ideal character of the critic (560-

744):

A.Qualities needed: integrity (562-565),

modesty (566-571), tact (572-577),

courage (578-583).

B.Their opposites (584-630).

C.Concluding eulogy of ancient critics as

models (643-744).