Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

The central question of epistemology is that of how human beings come to know and become aware of the ideas that they possess. In a bid to answer the above question, philosophers are divided along the lines of rationalism and empiricism. While the philosophers of the rationalist persuasion will hold unto and argue for reason as the ultimate source of human knowledge, the empiricists lay claim to the supremacy of sense experience. David Hume is undoubtedly one of the greatest proponent and sustainer of the ideals of the empiricist tradition. To drive his defense of empiricism, Hume, amongst other concepts, advanced the concept of impression in his scheme. By impression, he meant any visual or auditory experience or even pain. This paper attempts a re?ection on the nature and implications of Hume’s theory of impression. The paper found out that as plausible as the theory of impression may seem, considering the vigor with which Hume argues for it, it is not without ?aws. The paper also found out that besides distinguishing impression from ideas, Hume held that without impressions, there can be no idea. Hence, the conclusion that is reached in this paper is that, impressions and ideas make up the content of the mind in the thoughts of David Hume.

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