Single Idea 3903

[catalogued under 10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 4. Conceivable as Possible / c. Possible but inconceivable]

Full Idea

If there are things which are possible but inconceivable, we must abandon the view, which has had a considerable following since Descartes, that the conceivable is a test of the possible.

Clarification

Warning against deducing possibility and necessity from what we can imagine

Gist of Idea

The conceivable can't be a test of the possible, if there are things which are possible but inconceivable

Source

Roger Scruton (Modern Philosophy:introduction and survey [1994], 25)

Book Reference

Scruton,Roger: 'Modern Philosophy: introduction and survey' [Sinclair-Stevenson 1994], p.355