A Treatise of Human Nature · Chapter
Section II: Experiments to Confirm This System explained
Hume conducts a series of experiments to confirm his system of the double relation of impressions and ideas in the production of pride, humility, love, and hatred.
What happens
Hume conducts a series of experiments to confirm his system of the double relation of impressions and ideas in the production of pride, humility, love, and hatred. He demonstrates that objects must bear a double relation—of ideas to the object of the passion and of sensation to the passion itself—to produce these passions. Through successive experiments, he shows that neither a relation of ideas alone nor a relation of impressions alone is sufficient, but when both are present, the passions arise and transition along related objects. He also explores the effects of identity of passions, the greater facility of descending than ascending in passion transitions, and the influence of close personal connections, ultimately confirming his hypothesis.
Themes in this chapter
Passions and the Self
The chapter explores how pride and humility are directed at the self, and how external objects influence these passions through double relations.
Association of Ideas
The experiments demonstrate the role of association of ideas in the transition of passions from one object to related objects.
Sympathy and Social Influence
The chapter discusses how passions extend to friends and relations, showing the social influence on emotional responses.
Characters to notice
- David Hume
The author conducting the experiments and reasoning about the passions.
- Cornelia
Referenced in an example about the reproach to her sons, illustrating the principle of descending passions.
Key passages
“Ourself, independent of the perception of every other object, is in reality nothing:”
The self, apart from any perception of other things, is essentially nothing.
Hume emphasizes that the self is not a standalone entity but is defined through relations to external objects.
“In short, our passions, like other objects, descend with greater facility than they ascend.”
Our passions, like other things, move more easily from higher to lower than from lower to higher.
This principle explains why we more readily love a son for the father's sake than the father for the son's.
“Nothing causes greater vanity than any shining quality in our relations; as nothing mortifies us more than their vice or infamy.”
We feel the greatest pride from the admirable qualities of our relatives, and the deepest shame from their vices or disgrace.
This observation confirms the double relation of impressions and ideas in producing pride and humility.