" They are "the
principles of union or cohesion among our simple ideas, and, in
the imagination, supply the place of that inseparable connection by
which they are united in our memory. Here is a kind of
_attraction_, which, in the mental world, will be found to have as
extraordinary effects as in the natural, and to show itself in as
many and as various forms. Its effects are everywhere conspicuous;
but, as to its causes they are mostly unknown, and must be resolved
into _original_ qualities of human nature, which I pretend not to
explain."--(I. p. 29.)
And at the end of this section Hume goes on to say--
"Amongst the effects of this union or association of ideas, there
are none more remarkable than those complex ideas which are the
common subjects of our thought and reasoning, and generally arise
from some principle of union among our simple ideas. These complex
ideas may be resolved into _relations_, _modes_, and
_substances_."--(_Ibid._)
In the next section, which is devoted to _Relations_, they are spoken of
as qualities "by which two ideas are connected together in the
imagination," or "which make objects admit of comparison," and seven
kinds of relation are enumerated, namely, _resemblance_, _identity_,
_space and time_, _quantity or number_, _degrees of quality_,
_contrariety_, and _cause and effect_.
To the reader of Hume, whose conceptions are usually so clear, definite,
and consistent, it is as unsatisfactory as it is surprising to meet with
so much questionable and obscure phraseology in a small space.
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