Summary Of David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

In his work, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume presents a skeptical solution to the problem of induction and how we draw casual inferences. He conveys that we form inferences, not from reason, but from our experiences of cause and effect derived from the principle of custom or habit. Induction occurs when we make an inference and a conclusion from our past observations. Hume states that we can go beyond our memory and senses to conclude matters of fact. By experience, rather than by reason, we use the relation of cause and effect to regard these inferences. This knowledge of causal relations is based on experience because the relation between cause and effect is distinct. We feel compelled to jump from A to B and hold no reasoning
We remain skeptical in these solutions without giving a concrete answer to avoid error. Hume notes that there is no reason as to why we should reason with causal relations, but we do it anyway. He states that a person who enters a fresh world with no prior experience will at first once perceive random events. However, he will then begin to form correlations and will assume cause and effect relations. This portrays the customs or habits of people. Customs are sets of non-rational psychological faculties that help regulate minds. We can not reason or sense the causation to events, but by custom we can see the connection between A and B after we watch it reoccur many times. Hume conveys that "all inferences from experience, therefore, are effects of custom, not of reasoning" (Hume 28) and there is no rational connection between causal relations. Without custom, “we should be entirely ignorant of every matter of fact,” beyond your present memory and senses (Hume 29). Furthermore, simple impressions develop reasoning from experience and we form customary conjunctions between these impressions. Therefore, Hume states that custom is the great guide of human life as it connects the future with the