Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Vivacity And Hume's Impression-Idea Distinction, Prescott Christensen Jackson
Vivacity And Hume's Impression-Idea Distinction, Prescott Christensen Jackson
Theses and Dissertations
Hume famously grounds his foundational distinction between impressions and ideas on “force and vivacity.” However, he acknowledges that vivacity is sometimes imprecise for distinguishing impressions from ideas, in, for example, the phenomena madness. Therefore, interpreters question how impressions and ideas are really differentiated. Interpretations of the impression-idea distinction traditionally take one of two forms—either attempts to better-defined vivacity in other terms, or arguments that already better-defined distinctions, like the Copy Principle, suffice to distinguish impressions from ideas. However, both approaches create unpalatable problems for interpreting Hume. This paper gives a phenomenological account of vivacity and suggests that we should read …
Hume's Conception Of Geometry And The Role Of Contradiction, Sofia Remedios Paz
Hume's Conception Of Geometry And The Role Of Contradiction, Sofia Remedios Paz
Theses and Dissertations
David Hume’s account of geometry can seem puzzling as he claims that geometry is inexact and demonstrable. Graciela de Pierris argues for an interpretation that explains why Hume sees geometry as inexact and, yet, demonstrable. However, she doesn’t consider Hume’s description of relations of ideas found in the Enquiry. Hume distinguishes between matters of fact and relations of idea by checking to see if there is a contradiction with the denial of a proposition. Geometry is categorized as relations of idea, so the denials of geometric propositions cannot be conceivable and must imply a contradiction. I will argue that De …
"Just Perceiv'd & Next Door To Nothing:" An Investigation Of Minima In The Work Of George Berkeley, Nicholas Bryant Nash
"Just Perceiv'd & Next Door To Nothing:" An Investigation Of Minima In The Work Of George Berkeley, Nicholas Bryant Nash
Theses and Dissertations
For George Berkeley the minimum visibile and the minimum tangibile are the minimum points that can be perceived by the senses of sight and touch (NTV 54). His account of minima is considered by some to be central to his account of perception and his assault on skepticism, while others view the account as simply a digression from his main theme in the New Theory of Vision. One issue in particular that commentators disagree on is whether or not Berkeley understands minima to be extended or not extended. I argue that minima can only be understood as not extended. In …