A Treatise of Human Nature · Chapter
Section VI: Of Modes and Substances explained
Hume challenges the notion of substance as a distinct idea, arguing that it is merely a collection of simple ideas united by the imagination.
What happens
Hume challenges the notion of substance as a distinct idea, arguing that it is merely a collection of simple ideas united by the imagination. He distinguishes between substances and modes, noting that substances are referred to an unknown something and can admit new qualities without changing their name, while modes cannot.
Themes in this chapter
Empiricism and the Primacy of Impressions
Hume asks whether the idea of substance comes from impressions of sensation or reflection, and concludes it cannot, thus denying any distinct idea of substance.
Skepticism About the External World
By reducing substance to a collection of qualities, Hume undermines the notion of an unknown substratum, a key skeptical move.
Characters to notice
- David Hume
Author and narrator, presenting the argument against the idea of substance.
Key passages
“The idea of a substance as well as that of a mode, is nothing but a collection of simple ideas, that are united by the imagination, and have a particular name assigned them, by which we are able to recall, either to ourselves or others, that collection.”
Both substance and mode are just bundles of simple ideas joined by imagination and labeled with a name for easy recall.
Hume's core claim that substance is not a separate idea but a mental construction.
“The idea, of substance must therefore be derived from an impression of reflection, if it really exist. But the impressions of reflection resolve themselves into our passions and emotions: none of which can possibly represent a substance.”
If substance were real, it would have to come from an impression of reflection, but reflections are only passions and emotions, which cannot represent substance.
Hume's empirical argument against the existence of a substance idea.