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Single Idea 3888

[from 'Modern Philosophy:introduction and survey' by Roger Scruton, in 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 11. Denial of Necessity ]

Full Idea

It was one of the assumptions of Hume's empiricism that all necessities are de dicto: i.e. they are artefacts of language.

Clarification

'De re' refers to things themselves; 'de dicto' refers to things under a description (Winston/the PM)

Gist of Idea

Hume assumes that necessity can only be de dicto, not de re

Source

Roger Scruton (Modern Philosophy:introduction and survey [1994], 13.5)

Book Reference

Scruton,Roger: 'Modern Philosophy: introduction and survey' [Sinclair-Stevenson 1994], p.168