AS Philosophy - Hume's Fork

AS Philosophy - Hume's Fork

1. MATTERS OF FACT

   • a posterori
     • synthetic
       • inductive
         • Contingent
           • A truth that happens to be true, but which may not have been. It is a truth which logically could be false. e.g. 'You are reading this now'
         • Is an argument whose conclusion is supported by its promises, but not logically entailed by them. If the promises are true then the conclusion is likely to be true.
       • A proposition is synthetic if it is true or false, not just because of the meanings of the terms, but because of the way that the world is. e.g. All bachelors are unhappy
     • Propositions that can only be established through experience. e.g. Snow is white

2. RELATIONS OF IDEAS

   • a priori
     • analytic
       • deductive
         • necessary
           • A truth that has to be true and couldn't be otherwise, it is logically impossible for it to be false
         • Is an argument whose conclusions are logically entailed by its promises. If the promises are true, then the conclusion cannot be false
       • Propositions that are true by the virtue of the meaning of the terms
     • Knowledge of propositions that DO NOT require sense experience to be known to be true e.g. 2+2=4