whether it is derived from reason or sentiment, by which he means feelings rather than rational thought. This relates to Hume's conception of knowledge and thus his idea of the meaning and value of reason. Hume follows Locke by determining that all the contents of the mind, all ideas, derive from human experience and thus represent impressions. Hume uses different terminology than Locke, however. He says that perceptions is a term covering all of the contents of the mind in general. He divides perceptions into ideas and impressions. Impressions are described by Hume as the immediate data of experience, such as sensations. Ideas are the copies or faint images of impressions in thinking and reasoning. Impressions come by sensory observation, and ideas come from what is left as we recall those impressions. Idea in this regard signifies image. Hume derives all human knowledge ultimately from impressions, or from the immediate data of experience. Hume differentiates between impressions and ideas in terms of their vividness. The impressions include all human sensations, passions, and emotions, and they are strong and vivid. Ideas are the faint images of these impressions in thinking and reasoning. Ideas may reach the level of impressions in sleep, in a fever, or in madness. While it may seem that ideas and impressions always correspond to one another, they do not. Hume makes the distinction between simple and complex perceptions both in terms of impressions and ideas. Hume finds that our impressions come before our corresponding ideas. In moral reasoning, he makes a distinction between reason and sentiment, and he notes that there has been some controversy over whether morals are derived from reason or from sentiment. This
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