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H ume's Foundational Project in the T reatise
Author(s) -
Boehm Miren
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european journal of philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.42
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1468-0378
pISSN - 0966-8373
DOI - 10.1111/ejop.12056
Subject(s) - epistemology , reading (process) , philosophy , focus (optics) , sociology , mathematics education , computer science , mathematics , linguistics , physics , optics
In the I ntroduction to the T reatise H ume very enthusiastically announces his project to provide a secure and solid foundation for the sciences by grounding them on his science of man. And H ume indicates in the A bstract that he carries out this project in the T reatise . But most interpreters do not believe that H ume's project comes to fruition. In this paper, I offer a general reading of what I call H ume's ‘foundational project’ in the T reatise , but I focus especially on B ook 1. I argue that in B ook 1 much of H ume's logic is put in the service of the other sciences, in particular, mathematics and natural philosophy. I concentrate on H ume's negative thesis that many of the ideas central to the sciences are ideas that we cannot form. For H ume, this negative thesis has implications for the sciences, as many of the texts I discuss make evident. I consider and criticize different proposals for understanding these implications: the C riterion of M eaning and the ‘ I nconceivability P rinciple’. I introduce what I call H ume's ‘No R eason to B elieve’ P rinciple, which I argue captures more adequately the link Hume envisions between his logic, in particular his examination of ideas, and the other sciences.