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There Is Just One Idea of Self in Hume's Treatise

There Is Just One Idea of Self in Hume's Treatise Hume&apos;s mysterious words, "we must distinguish betwixt personal identity, as it regards our thought or imagination, and as it regards our passions or the concern we take in ourselves" have been the focus of a variety of different interpretations, some more creative than others. But the solution to this interpretative problem is indeed very simple, too simple to occur to most readers. What Hume has in mind is actually nothing but the different ways association works with regard to, on the one hand, imagination, and, on the other hand, passion. Hence, one may easily read the entire <i>Treatise</i> as containing just one idea of self, that is, the bundle of perceptions discussed in "On personal identity." Contrary to what many scholars have recently suggested, this idea may very well be "the idea, or rather impression" of self at play in the mechanism of sympathy, as well as the object of pride and humility. This faithful but dull reading makes Hume coherent, probably more coherent than any two-ideas interpretation does. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Hume Studies Hume Society

There Is Just One Idea of Self in Hume&apos;s Treatise

Carlson, Åsa.
Hume Studies , Volume 35 (1) – Dec 1, 2010
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Publisher
Hume Society
ISSN
1947-9921

Abstract

Hume&apos;s mysterious words, "we must distinguish betwixt personal identity, as it regards our thought or imagination, and as it regards our passions or the concern we take in ourselves" have been the focus of a variety of different interpretations, some more creative than others. But the solution to this interpretative problem is indeed very simple, too simple to occur to most readers. What Hume has in mind is actually nothing but the different ways association works with regard to, on the one hand, imagination, and, on the other hand, passion. Hence, one may easily read the entire <i>Treatise</i> as containing just one idea of self, that is, the bundle of perceptions discussed in "On personal identity." Contrary to what many scholars have recently suggested, this idea may very well be "the idea, or rather impression" of self at play in the mechanism of sympathy, as well as the object of pride and humility. This faithful but dull reading makes Hume coherent, probably more coherent than any two-ideas interpretation does.

Journal

Hume Studies – Hume Society

Published: Dec 1, 2010

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