Can Hume Deny Reid's Dilemma?

Hume Studies 43 (2):57-78 (2017)
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Abstract

Reid’s dilemma concludes that, whether the idea associated with a denied proposition is lively or faint, Hume is committed to saying that it is either believed or merely conceived. In neither case would there be denial. If so, then Hume cannot give an adequate account of denial. I consider and reject Powell’s suggestion that Hume could have advanced a “Content Contrary” account of denial that avoids Reid’s dilemma. However, not only would a Humean Content Contrary account be viciously circular, textual evidence suggests that Hume did not hold such an account. I then argue that Govier’s distinction between force and vivacity cannot help Hume. Not only did Hume fail to recognize this distinction, we can advance a variant of Reid’s dilemma even if we distinguish force from vivacity.

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Anthony Nguyen
University of Southern California

Citations of this work

Hume's Second Thoughts on Belief.Michael Jacovides - 2024 - Journal of Modern Philosophy 6.

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References found in this work

Hume.Fabian Dorsch - 2016 - In Amy Kind, The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Imagination. New York: Routledge. pp. 40-54.
Variations on force and vivacity in Hume.Trudy Govier - 1972 - Philosophical Quarterly 22 (86):44-52.

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