George S. Pappas

Perception of the Self

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Abstract General Ideas in Hume

General Ideas in Hume

A Second Copy Thesis in Hume

The copy thesis which applies to simple ideas and impressions in Hume is well known; every simple idea is supposed to be a copy of, that is, to exactly resemble, some simple impression. Or very nearly so, at any rate, for there is the famous missing shade ofblue to take into account. There seems to be another copy thesis in Hume, however, and one on which Hume places a great deal of weight. We find it expressed early on in the Treatise, incorporated into Humes discussion of space and time. He says:

Lehrer on Evidence, Induction and Acceptance

Keith Lehrer has developed a comprehensive and systematic theory of inductive inference, and has indicated in some detail how his theory is connected to, and how it helps to shed considerable light on, other problem areas of philosophy and science. However, his theory has not been presented all in one piece and all in one place. Rather, he has developed and sharpened the theory in about a score of papers in various journals and books over the past dozen years or so. So, in this paper I will try to bring together the scattered elements of Lehrer’s theory in such a way that the comprehensive and systematic character of the theory stands out.