Single Idea 16210

[catalogued under 7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 5. Supervenience / d. Humean supervenience]

Full Idea

Humean supervenience says the world is a vast mosaic of local matters of particular fact. We have a geometry of external relations of spatio-temporal distance between points, and local qualities at points. …In short: we have an arrangement of qualities.

Gist of Idea

Humean supervenience says the world is just a vast mosaic of qualities in space-time

Source

David Lewis (Introduction to Philosophical Papers II [1986], p.ix-x)

Book Reference

Lewis,David: 'Philosophical Papers Vol.2' [OUP 1986], p.-10


A Reaction

[compressed] This is the key fundamental tenet of David Lewis's philosophy. He names it after Hume because it contains no necessary connections. It is 'supervenient' because all worldly truths reduce to and depend on the mosaic. His thesis is contingent.