Hume s Theory Of Free Will And Moral Responsibility

What does Hume mean by ‘the liberty of spontaneity’ (Treatise, II.3.2,  ¶1)? Would possessing it suffice for us to have free will? David Hume was a Scottish philosopher who was largely active in the eighteenth century. While Hume is largely remembered as being part of the empiricist movement that comprised of John Locke and George Berkeley, which largely focussed on the belief that knowledge came from our sensory experiences; this essay will focus on Hume’s work regarding the concept of free will and moral responsibility. It will do this by introducing Hume’s compatibilism and his term ‘the liberty of spontaneity’, in doing so this essay will also explain Hume’s argument against libertarianism. Next, this essay will evaluate Hume’s arguments to determine whether or not possessing the liberty of spontaneity leads to free will. In his second treatise, Hume discusses the passions of the mind and how the internal mind operates, in doing this he moves on to the impression of will. It is this discussion that led to Hume’s questioning of the current belief in free will and moral responsibility. By ‘the will’ Hume meant: †¦ I mean nothing but the internal impression we feel and are conscious of, when we knowingly give rise to any new motion of our body, or new perception of our mind. 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