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Full Idea
'Tis an established maxim in metaphysics, that whatever the mind clearly conceives includes the idea of possible existence, or in other words, that nothing we imagine is absolutely impossible.
Gist of Idea
Nothing we clearly imagine is absolutely impossible
Source
David Hume (Treatise of Human Nature [1739], I.II.2)
Book Ref
Hume,David: 'A Treatise of Human Nature', ed/tr. Selby-Bigge/Nidditch [OUP 1978], p.32
A Reaction
It is important to note that this empiricist approach to what is impossible requires that we 'clearly' conceive the possibility - but how do we evaluate whether we are being clear or not?
| 5998 | From the necessity of the past we can infer the impossibility of what never happens [Diod.Cronus, by White,MJ] |
| 17183 | Things are impossible if they imply contradiction, or their production lacks an external cause [Spinoza] |
| 3946 | A thing is shown to be impossible if a contradiction is demonstrated within its definition [Berkeley] |
| 9428 | Nothing we clearly imagine is absolutely impossible [Hume] |
| 23283 | Necessity implies possibility, but in experience it matters which comes first [Williams,B] |
| 16426 | How can we know the metaphysical impossibilities; the a posteriori only concerns this world [Chalmers] |
| 14377 | Possibilities are manifestations of some power, and impossibilies rest on no powers [Jacobs] |