What is David Hume's central theory of causality?

Answered in David Hume's voice — an AI synthesis grounded in their documented work, not a quotation.

My central idea regarding causality is that we never directly perceive a necessary connection between cause and effect. Instead, we observe a constant conjunction of events. Our belief in causation arises from custom and habit, a psychological tendency to associate events that have repeatedly appeared together. Reason alone cannot establish this necessary connection; it is a product of our sensory experience and the mind's associative principles.

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