Infinite Divisibility and Actual Parts in Hume’s Treatise
Hume Studies 28 (1):3-25 (2002)
Abstract
According to a standard interpretation of Hume’s argument against infinite divisibility, Hume is raising a purely formal problem for mathematical constructions of infinite divisibility, divorced from all thought of the stuffing or filling of actual physical continua. I resist this. Hume’s argument must be understood in the context of a popular early modern account of the metaphysical status of the parts of physical quantities. This interpretation disarms the standard mathematical objections to Hume’s reasoning; I also defend it on textual and contextual grounds.Author's Profile
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Citations of this work
Hume on space, geometry, and diagrammatic reasoning.Graciela De Pierris - 2012 - Synthese 186 (1):169-189.
Causal Powers, Hume’s Early German Critics, and Kant’s Response to Hume.Brian A. Chance - 2013 - Kant Studien 104 (2):213-236.
Hume's Scepticism and Realism - His Two Profound Arguments against the Senses in An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding.Jani Hakkarainen - 2007 - Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere.
Hume and the Perception of Spatial Magnitude.Edward Slowik - 2004 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 34 (3):355 - 373.
