HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGINATION

HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGINATION

HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGINATION by JAN WILBANKS Marietta College MARTINUS NIJHOFF / THE HAGUE / 1968

ISBN 978-94-015-0209-2 ISBN 978-94-015-0709-7 (ebook) DOl 10.1007/978-94-015-0709-7 I968 by Martinus Nijhoff. The Hague. Netherlands All rights reserved. including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form

To Ramona

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The original problem out of which the present study developed - the problem of the relationship between Hume's and Kant's theories of imagination - was suggested to me by Professor Marvin Fox, Department of Philosophy, The Ohio State University. Accordingly, I would like to take this occasion to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Fox for this. Indeed, I would go beyond this to express my appreciation for the aid and advice he rendered as I was bringing this study to completion. I also wish to thank the following publishers for permission to use quotations from books under their copyright: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., Indianapolis, for passages quoted from: David H ume: A n Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding; edited by Charles W. Hendel, copyright 1955 by The Liberal Arts Press, Inc., reprinted by permission of the Liberal Arts Press Division of The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. The Clarendon Press, Oxford, for passages quoted from: Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles 0/ Morals by David Hume, edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge, 2d. ed., 1902. A Treatise 0/ Human Nature by David Hume, edited by L. A. Selby Bigge, 1888. The Letters 0/ David Hume, edited by J. Y. T. Greig, 1932. New Letters 0/ David Hume, edited by R. Klibansky and E. C. Mossner, 1954. B. M. Laing, David Hume, 1932. H. H. Price, Hume's Theory 0/ the External World, 1940. The MacMillan Company, Ltd., London, for passages quoted from: Norman Kemp Smith, The Philosophy 0/ David Hume, 1941. Methuen and Company, Ltd., London, for passages quoted from: John Laird, Hume's Philosophy 0/ Human Nature, 1932. Finally, I wish to thank the following publishers for permission to use quotations from articles under their copyright and to extend my appreciation as well to the authors of said articles:

VIII ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Philosophy and The Royal Institute of Philosophy, London, for passages quoted from: E. J. Furlong, "Imagination in Hume's Treatise and Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding", Vol. XXXVI (1961), pp.62-70. University of Toronto Quarterly and the University of Toronto Press, Toronto, for passages quoted from: Harold Taylor, "Hume's Theory of Imagination", Vol. XII (1943), pp. 180-90.

TABLE OF CONTENTS A cknowledgments VII INTRODUCTION I CHAPTER 1. SOME CONTEMPORARY INTERPRETATIONS OF HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGINATION 8 W. C. GORE'S INTERPRETATION 9 Exposition 9 Evaluation 15 On Hume's problem 15 On Hume's different senses of "imagination" 16 On the function of imagination in Hume 20 N. K. SMITH'S INTERPRETATION 22 Exposition 22 Evaluation 26 E. J. FURLONG'S INTERPRETATION 30 Exposition 30 Evaluation 36 On the reasons for the prominence of imagination 36 On the criticism of Smith's interpretation 39 On the function Hume assigns to imagination in the production of belief 43 On Hume's drive for economy in Enquiry I 44 HAROLD TAYLOR'S INTERPRETATION 46 Exposition 46 Evaluation 52 Concluding remarks 58 CHAPTER II. THE ELEMENTS OF HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGI NATION The contents of the mind The materials of imagination The source of the materials of imagination The criteria for recognizing imaginative activity Principles governing the imagination The nature of imagination Hume's general conception of imagination Hume's "special" usage of "imagination" 60 61 62 63 64 68 71 72 80

x TABLE OF CONTENTS Imaginative activity and the real 84 The function of imagination in cognition 86 Concluding remarks 87 CHAPTER III. THE GENERIC FEATURES AND BASIC ARGUMENT STRUCURE OF HUME'S PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN UNDER- STANDING 89 The primary goal of Burne's philosophy of the human understanding 90 Burne's primary aim as expressed in "Enquiry I" 91 Burne's primary aim as expressed in "Treatise I" 94 Consideration of a possible objection to the foregoing account 97 Burne's primary aim as expressed in the "Abstract" and the appendix to the "Treatise" 98 An alternative to the preceding account of Burne's primary aim 100 The argument-structure of section XII of "Enquiry I" and its relation to the basic argument-structure of "Treatise I" as a whole 102 Burne's basic principles 105 Concluding remarks!o8 CHAPTER IV. HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGINATION IN THE ARGU MENT OF HIS PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING (I): THE ATTACK ON REASON!O9 The attack on abstract reasoning IIO The account in "Enquiry I" I!O The account in the" Abstract"!I2 The account in "Treatise I"!I5 The attack on matter-of-fact reasoning 120 The account in "Enquiry I": its primary aim 120 The account in "Treatise I" 121 The necessity of a cause 123 The nature of causal inference 124 The principle of uniformity of nature 127 Belief and causal inference 129 Necessary connexion 131 The combined attack on both types of reasoning 134 CHAPTER V. HUME'S THEORY OF IMAGINATION IN THE ARGU MENT OF HIS PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING (II): THE ATTACK ON SENSE 142 The attack on external sense 142 The account in "Enquiry I" 142 The account in "Treatise I" 145 Some remarks on the discussions in sections iii and iv 155 The attack on internal sense 158 The account in "Treatise I" 159 Burne's remarks in the appendix to the "Treatise" 164 Some comments on Burne's remarks 166 CHAPTER VI. CONCLUSION 169 INDEX 176 A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCES 178