Introduction: Remarkably, it is possible to sum up David Hume's vital assumptions about reasoning in a single proposition: Reason does NOTHING except locate the presence or absence of contradictions. This paper will attempt three tasks: first, to show the textual support for my interpretation; second, to explain how Hume's scepticism about induction depends on this assumption; and third, to briefly argue that Hume's basic assumption is wrong. Textual Support: Whenever Hume wants to show that …showed first 75 words of 1954 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1954 total…likely escape route from the long list of absurd conclusions Hume's premises imply. No one accepts Hume's conclusions in practice; it is time to question his theory as well. Notes 1: David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, pp.15-16. 2: ibid, p.22. 3: David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, pp.86-87. 4: ibid, p.89. 5: David Hume, Abstract of a Treatise of Human Nature, pp.13- 14. 6: ibid, p.17. 7: ibid, p.14. 8: A Treatise of Human Nature, op. cit., p.89.