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David Hume, in section VIII of his essay An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, argues that the concepts of necessity and liberty are only disputed verbally amongst the laymen and the philosophers. His contention is that an ambiguity of definitions is the cause of disagreement and that, from a practical standpoint, all of mankind is in agreement as to the application of necessity and liberty. ... the ability to act in accordance with the desires of his will at any given moment, is directly constrained and determined by a natural law of necessity. This law of necessity, cause and effect determinacy, is what governs liberty and any attempt to understand liberty outside of this control leads to those misunderstandings we are trying to avoid by creating ambiguous definitions. I will, hitherto, argue in support of this understanding of necessity and liberty. ... He argues that these varying interpretations arise, ultimately, from the idea of necessity as it imposes upon the operation of bodies. ... ” Essentially, Hume is saying that necessity is synonymous with cause, that knowledge apart from cause is unintelligible; therefore liberty (the knowledge of freedom) is subject to necessity. ... If it were possible for a man to operate outside of these parameters (of necessity) then he would be utterly free of responsibility. When one denies necessity, one denies causes and when one denies causes, then one denies effects. ... Politics, governments and laws work effectively because, as necessity shows, they have the same effects upon mankind throughout history.
Approximate Word count = 1147
Approximate Pages = 4.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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