Animals, Hume, Husserl, and the Horizon: On Reason and Inference in Hume
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphil.2026.2.03Keywords:
Hume, Husserl, animals, horizon, passive vs. active, reason, causality, inference, cognitionAbstract
In this paper, my main aim is to look closely at a passage in the Section “Of the Reason of Animals” of Hume's first Enquiry and to see how a Husserl-based reading of it sheds light on the concepts of reason and inference as used by Hume. In section 1, I briefly resume the content and function of Hume’s “Of the Reason of Animals” both in the Treatise and the Enquiry; next, I bring in the some concepts and theories from Husserl and speak about the general affinity between Husserl and Hume; and finally, I read closely the selected passage from Hume's Enquiry with help of the Husserlean toolkit and show what Hume most likely meant by „reason“ and „inference“ (at least in this passage).
References
John J. Drummond, Historical Dictionary of Husserl’s Philosophy, Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2007.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Oxford University Press, 1896.
David Hume, Enquiries concerning the Human Understanding and concerning the Principles of Morals, Oxford University Press, 1902.
Edmund Husserl, Erste Philosophie (1923/24). Erster Teil: Kritische Ideengeschichte, ed. Rudolf Boehm, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1956.
Edmund Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology, tr. Dorion Cairns, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960.
Edmund Husserl, Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge, ed. S. Strasser, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963.
Edmund Husserl, The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, tr. David Carr, Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970.
Edmund Husserl, Formale und transcendentale Logik: Versuch einer Kritik der logischen Vernunft, ed. Paul Janssen, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1974.
Ram Adhar Mall, Experience and Reason: The Phenomenology of Husserl and its Relation to Hume’s Philosophy, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1973.
Richard T. Murphy, Hume and Husserl: Towards Radical Subjectivism, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1980.
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