Up@dawn 2.0

Thursday, April 23, 2015

David Hume and LOST Section 8, group 2. Final blog post 2.

Desmond David Hume, the character that I truly appreciated the most. Both the actual Hume and Desmond were Scottish, and both influenced by John Locke, though when analyzing Desmond as a character, he seems a little different from the actual David Hume. One of the most apparent things that stood out was their beliefs on miracles, the actual David Hume wasn't too keen on miracles and didn't fully believe or understand them, whereas Desmond was very keen on miracles. Desmond even had told Jack, the main character, to never give up, that miracles do happen. David Hume (the philosopher) was a "soft determinist" or a "compatibilist" which means that he believed that all events are causally determined. However, we can still have moral responsibility. This belief played a HUGE roll in Desmond's character as he struggled with this throughout the seasons due to the fact that he could see the future and wanted to determine or casually "fix" the future. It took him several tries to realize that what's done is done, and he cannot "fix" the future forever. Desmond is a very confusing and dynamic character as you witness him struggle with himself and other characters.    

3 comments:

  1. You're right, that is puzzling. I wonder if the producers understood David's position on miracles and decided to have Desmond contradict it deliberately, or if they just did sloppy research. But the idea that we can be skeptical about things like free will and still be held morally accountable is perfectly consistent with David's philosophy.

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  2. I found this post very interesting, but I'll admit I've not watched the show. I think the idea of casually fixing the future is an interesting one.

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  3. Lance Egly12:08 PM CDT

    Being an avid watcher, and re-watcher, of LOST, this post gives me a better understanding of Desmond's character and why he is the way he is. Thanks for sharing this!

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