Subjectivism in Hume’s Empiricism: Implications for Nigeria’s socio-political life

Abstract

Empiricism stands in contrast to rationalism, realism, and various other views descended from Platonic realism. Empiricism’s extreme form in the history of thought, especially the type found in Hume’s philosophy ended in skepticism, secularism and individualism, which in turn led to subjectivism. Subjectivism in this context is personal, radical extension of empiricism. This paper argues that dragging empiricism to its logical conclusion as Hume did, has given rise to subjectivism, which has thrown out authority and bases truth on whether ideas can be effectively argued and proved with accepted rules of logic. We argue strongly that empiricism should be blamed for the ills and decadence in our society today. It is the root of moral decadence and corruption in Nigeria’s socio-political life. It is our view, therefore, that we must go beyond the empirical if we are to curb decadence, squalor and corruption in the Nigerian nation and achieve genuine development in all sphere of our socio-political life.