The nature of belief and imagination and the difference between them

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE: Section V; in the middle of his account of cause & effect. Tries to explain the difference between what happens when a) one even merely leads me to have an idea of another event that might follow, and b) the occurrence of one event produces in me the confident belief that an event is about to occur.
1st Distinction: Important link between belief and imagination - both classified by Hume as ideas. Belief: an idea that has a particularly high degree of force and vivacity, in contrast to an idea which is not forceful and vivid, which is a product of the imagination (i.e. a fiction).
2nd Distinction: We have no direct voluntary control over our beliefs. Hume refers to this to establish the distinction between conceiving of an idea with the imagination and actually believing it. Example: "we can, in our conception, join the head of a man to the body of a horse, but it is not in our power to believe that such an animal has ever really existed". My idea doesn't possess the force and vivacity required to make it a belief.
Illustration: When I see heavy black clouds in the sky I can imagine lots of things that could happen next; that the cloud is in fact a plague of vampire bats that will suddenly descend on me for example. However, I actually believe that it's about to rain. Difference: my belief feels stronger than the fiction. I am free (within the confines of possible impressions) to imagine anything, but I am not free simply to believe anything. Belief has more hold over the mind.
Further understanding this distinction: Hume understands both beliefs and impressions as forceful & vivid perceptions of the mind; we are naturally led to relate the two (something Hume also embraces). What distinguishes belief from fiction is feeling/sentiment (though Hume mentions that beliefs are the guiding principles of action). Only a belief that a certain event will occur can motivate me to act accordingly; in contrast with my merely bringing this same idea before my imagination. eg. my belief that there is a bomb underneath my chair will guide my actions and likely make me move. However, I do not believe this and my capacity to imagine this being the case does not motivate me to act in any way.
Degrees of Belief: Section VI: Certain beliefs are stronger than others. Degrees of belief increase in accordance with:
1. Superiority of Chance: that which is more likely to happen. Eg. A die has one dot on four of its sides and four dots on the other two. We are more likely to believe that a one will be rolled, because the chance creates a bigger impression on us, imprinting itself more firmly on the imagination and transferring its force and vivacity to the idea in order to produce a belief. Contrast - we wouldn't form a belief about which side a coin would land on; no superiority of chance.
2. Probability of Causes: that which has happened more often in the past. Eg. fire has always burned; uniform and constant - seems to admit no exceptions. Therefore, we believe that the next fire we come across will burn if we touch it. However, some causes are irregular/uncertain - opium doesn't have a sleepy effect on everyone. We proportion our belief accordingly - believing most strongly in those cases where our experience is entirely uniform ("one would appear ridiculous, who would say, that 'tis only probable that all men must die").

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The nature of belief and imagination and the difference between them

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	Created by annamiddleton almost 11 years ago