“ That the sun will not rise to-morrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction than the affirmation, that it will rise. ”
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). copy citation
| Author | David Hume |
|---|---|
| Source | An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding |
| Topic | contradiction proposition affirmation |
| Date | 1748 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9662/9662-h/9662-h.htm |
Context
“The contrary of every matter of fact is still possible; because it can never imply a contradiction, and is conceived by the mind with the same facility and distinctness, as if ever so conformable to reality. That the sun will not rise to-morrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction than the affirmation, that it will rise. We should in vain, therefore, attempt to demonstrate its falsehood. Were it demonstratively false, it would imply a contradiction, and could never be distinctly conceived by the mind.
It may, therefore, be a subject worthy of curiosity, to enquire what is the nature of that evidence which assures us of any real existence and matter of fact, beyond the present testimony of our senses, or the records of our memory.” source
It may, therefore, be a subject worthy of curiosity, to enquire what is the nature of that evidence which assures us of any real existence and matter of fact, beyond the present testimony of our senses, or the records of our memory.” source
