In this volume--the first, focused study of Hume on time and identity--Baxter focuses on Hume s treatment of the concept of numerical identity, which is central to Hume's famous discussions of the external world and personal identity. Hume raises a long unappreciated, and still unresolved, difficulty with the concept of identity: how to represent something as "a medium betwixt unity and number." Superficial resemblance to Frege s famous puzzle has kept the difficulty in the shadows. Hume s way of addressing it makes sense only in the context of his unorthodox theory of time. Baxter shows the defensibility of that theory against past dismissive interpretations, especially of Hume s stance on infinite divisibility. Later the author shows how the difficulty underlies Hume s later worries about his theory of personal identity, in a new reading motivated by Hume s important appeals to consciousness. Baxter casts Hume throughout as an acute metaphysician, and reconciles this side of Hume with his overarching Pyrrhonian skepticism.
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In this volume--the first, focused study of Hume on time and identity--Baxter focuses on Hume s treatment of the concept of numerical identity, which is central to Hume's famous discussions of the external world and personal identity. Hume raises a long unappreciated, and still unresolved, difficulty with the concept of identity: how to represent something as "a medium betwixt unity and number." Superficial resemblance to Frege s famous puzzle has kept the difficulty in the shadows. Hume s way of addressing it makes sense only in the context of his unorthodox theory of time. Baxter shows the defensibility of that theory against past dismissive interpretations, especially of Hume s stance on infinite divisibility. Later the author shows how the difficulty underlies Hume s later worries about his theory of personal identity, in a new reading motivated by Hume s important appeals to consciousness. Baxter casts Hume throughout as an acute metaphysician, and reconciles this side of Hume with his overarching Pyrrhonian skepticism.
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Imprint | Routledge |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Series | Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy |
Release date | March 2009 |
Availability | Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days |
First published | 2007 |
Authors | Donald L. M. Baxter |
Dimensions | 234 x 156 x 8mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback |
Pages | 130 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-415-80477-6 |
Barcode | 9780415804776 |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-415-80477-9 |