Writing Assignment Analyzing Arguments Made By David Humes (Essay Sample)

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Philosophy Essay
Introduction
Empiricism is a kind of theory that acknowledges the source of knowledge. It states that knowledge only or mainly comes from the sensory experiences. Empiricism stresses on the function of experience and evidence, particularly in the idea formation. It argues that humans can only have posteriori knowledge. Some of the great empiricists include John Locke, David Hume and George Berkeley.
John Locke highly appreciated the success and contributions that scientists had made in chemistry, medicine and physics and wanted to clear the ground for further future developments through a theory of knowledge. Locke then argued that we acquire our knowledge from the composition of our ideas. He supported this by saying that our ideas are the immediate objects of our thoughts. He added that our experiences are the source of our ideas and ideas could be simple or complex (Haslam, 345).
George Berkeley is remembered for his piece concerning the principle of the human knowledge. His treatise puts forward a type of metaphysical idealism which states that reality is in two kinds, the idea and the spirit. He claims that ideas are real because they can be perceived whereas spirit is real for the reason that it can have ideas and because it can also perceive them (Haslam, 353).
Berkeley argued that ideas come from the physical as well as the mental perceptions, from imaginations and memory. Therefore, the presence of an idea depends on its ability to be perceived. It means that an idea's existence cannot be separated from it being perceived. He refers to the active perceiving as the spirit, mind or soul. Therefore, the existence of spirit consists of the capacity to have ideas and to perceive them. In this case, spirit, as it perceived ideas, is referred to as the understanding. On the other hand, spirit, at is operates or produces ideas is known as the will (Haslam, 355).
David Hume, on the other hand, looks into the human knowledge and understanding through the distinction of ideas and impressions. He argues that ideas are images whereas impressions are sensations. Hume claims that the difference between the two is that ideas are less lively than impressions. For instance, the idea of a lemon's taste is inferior when compared to the impression of actually tasting one. Therefore, he holds that impressions are the origin of all ideas which as the source of knowledge (Haslam, 67).
Life of Buddha
Buddha was born in Nepal in the 16th century. He was a spiritual teacher and leader whose life was the foundation of the Buddhist religion. He was born in a large clan known as Shakyas. Siddhartha Gautama, who was to one day become the Buddha, lived in the palace till in his late 20s. His father was a king and ruled over a tribe that was known to be economically poor (Shaw, 86).
During his childhood, a holy man had prophesied that Siddhartha Gautama would either become a great king or a Buddha. Having been born in a palace, Buddha had never gone beyond the walls. However, he one day explored the world beyond the palace. He saw how people suffered from poverty, pain and death.
Buddha realized that the world was ugly, and it was a harsh place to be. He, therefore, wanted to find out how he could explain the pain and suffering that people experienced in the outside world. After experimenting with different teachings, Buddha failed to get a solution. He then decided to spend a fateful night in a deep meditation (Shaw, 91).
He would not en...