Hume On The Nature And Function Of Rules

Rule is an important concept which is involved usually in Hume’s epistemology, passion and moral theory.Hume uses rule from different views and function. So, interpreting rule is very vital to Hume’s normativity.In China,rules by which to judge the cause and effect and rules of justice have caused much attention of researchers.But,it is very scare to do research for the rule as a separate issue.It can be seen from Hume’s publication that,Hume does not define the meaning of rules clearly,but,by reading the Treatise and other books written by Hume,we can say that,Hume uses the rule from two meanings,the first rule is natural psychological rules,and the second is reflectional normative rules.The first rules are apt to form prejudice and wrong judgment,and the second rules are corrective,regulative,and normative,directive,and reflective.The general pattern of rules are applied by Hume in the analysis of epistemology,passion and moral theory,which make the philosophy of Hume indicate two methods,natural psychological method and reflectional normative method respectively.It is these two methods that make Hume interpret the word of experience regularly.The application of rules is the representation of normativity of Hume’s Philosophy,which is a challenge to some interpretations.Firstly,It is a charge to sheer scepticism.Besides,it is a correction and modification for the naturalism.Moreover,It is the refutation to the mental privacy psychologism and moral subjectivism.In order to learn deeply rules of Hume,it is necessary to answer some questions,such as the origination of rules,how to have an influence on people and the justification of rules.According to Hume,custom is the principle of Hume nature,the ultimate principle and the great guide of life.So,Hume applies the custom to interpret the formation of rules and the influence of rules.In fact,custom contains two levels,which is the psychological sense and reflectional sense.From this view,Hume consistently developes the rule’s formation and influence. As to the justification or the authority of rules,Hume,in fact,shows a method of application consistently.On the one hand,following some norms,the second rules can be formed,because these norm are the conditions of right reasoning,on the other hand,application of these rules makes us recognize the function of rules. Actually,it is the process of the wisdom’s practice.The general pattern of rules are applied by Hume in many fields,so,the theories of passion and morality have the the character of normativity.Normativity is a new view and perspective of studying Hume,which can show a new Hume.