T. Reid's argument

T. Reid

"Thomas Reid [ri:d] was a minister in the Church of Scotland and a Professor at the Universities of Aberdeen [ˌæbəˈdiːn] and Glasgow [ˈglɑːzgəʊ]. He challenged Hume’s assumption [əˈsʌmpʃ(ə)n] in a book called “Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense,” first published in 1764. Reid argued that trusting testimony is analogous [əˈnæləgəs] to trusting your senses."

Principle of credulity

"T. Reid thought we had an innate “principle of credulity [krɪˈdjuːlɪti],” which he defined as: “a disposition to confide [kənˈfaɪd] in the veracity [vəˈræsɪti] of others, and to believe what they tell us.”

“If credulity were the effect of reasoning and experience [as Hume claims], it must grow up and gather strength, in the same proportion as reason and experience do. But, if it is the gift of Nature, it will be strongest in children, and limited and restrained by experience; and the most superficial [ˌsjuːpəˈfɪʃəl] view of human life shows, that the last is really the case, and not the first.”

Principle of veracity

"For Reid, just as we are naturally trusting creatures, we are naturally honest creatures. T. Reid thought that “Lying is doing violence to our nature.”

D. Hume on testimony

"For Hume, the testimony of others is a highly problematic source of information, that is reliable in some cases, but useless in others – leaving the individual on her own, when it comes to forming beliefs and opinions."

T. Reid on testimony

"For Reid, we are innately disposed to honesty and credulity, such that the testimony of others is a natural and indispensable source of information."

SOURCES

'Introduction to Philosophy' course (the University of Edinburgh)

https://www.coursera.org/learn/philosophy