Scepticism, David Hume, and UFOs

"Perceiving Necessity". Legg, C & Franklin, J (2015).

Background

[This post is foundational to my project to create a "sociology of UFO disclosure". Foundational regarding my epistemological stance in trying to understand the UFO issue and the implications of UFO disclosure. - J. T]

What does a Scottish philosopher from the 1800th century have to do with the UFO phenomenon? As far as I know, David Hume (1711 - 1776) was not a believer in UFOs, nor did he in any of his books or essays discuss UFOs.

So, what is my point in bringing up one of the most influential philosophers to write in English? Bear with me for a moment.

David Hume is famous for many contributions to philosophy (also to, for example, history and politics). Still, among philosophers and scientists, he is likely most known for his thoughts on causation and "the problem of induction". Hume's thesis about knowledge and if we ever can justify something as certain knowledge made his contemporaries call his epistemological standpoint "radical scepticism."

Hume was quite shaken by his own discoveries about the limits of human knowledge.

My discussion of Hume's ideas on knowledge and truth is not directly about UFOs. Instead, I am using Hume's skepticism to address people who want the UFO issue to be taken more seriously outside of UFO circles. 

The point of this post is to use Hume's epistemology (or scepticism) as a principled basis for encouraging the epistemic humility that UFO discourse currently lacks on both sides.

We want to know the truth about the UFO phenomenon. Knowledge. Truth. Reasons and justification. Before we move on, let us do a thought experiment.

Ask yourself: What do I know with certainty is true about the UFO phenomenon? Seriously, think about it for a moment before you continue reading. Be brutally honest in your answer.