ABSTRACT
In the last chapter we saw how Hume tries to show that we have no rational grounds for our belief in causation or for our expectations about the future, that our basic beliefs in the world around us and in our own continued existence are just irrational prejudices, and that even our most secure rational knowledge is in reality just a complex kind of guesswork. Where are we supposed to go from there? Does Hume intend us to try to stop believing in anything at all? Is he just playing with his readers, revelling in his own cleverness and trying to do nothing more serious than to shock people out of their complacency and make them think?
