Causality

Abstract

The problem of causality is one of the central topics of Hume’s philosophy. There are several reasons for its importance: (1) Of all the relations it is the only one in virtue of which we can pass beyond the immediate impression of the senses or an idea of the memory and thus step outside the realm of the given. The only relation “that can be trac’d beyond our senses, and informs us of existences and objects, which we do not see or feel, is causation.” (2) It is a relation which underlies our belief in an external world. To quote another passage from the Treatise: “We readily suppose an object may continue individually the same, tho’ several times absent and present to the senses; and ascribe to it an identity, notwithstanding the interruption of the perception, whenever we conclude, that if we had kept our eye or hand constantly upon it, it would have convey’d an invariable and uninterrupted perception.

Acknowledgment: Transcription of the manuscript into electronic form from the original: Chinatsu Kobayashi.

†deceased