Projection and Necessity in Hume

Abstract

This paper discusses the metaphor of projection in relation to Hume’s treatment of causal necessity. I argue that the best understanding of projection shows it to be compatible with taking Hume to be a ‘sceptical realist’ about causal necessity, albeit an agnostic one.

The Passage of Time is Not an Illusion: It's a Projection

“…(b) the commitment is not derived or sustained by inference; 7 (c) the explanation of the commitment essentially involves appeal to psychological facts about S; (d) the phenomenology of the commitment does not intimate to the subject its best explanation. (Kail, 2001) This understanding of projection is reflected in a common use of the term in clinical psychology, attributed to Sigmund and Anna Freud: e.g., I feel guilty about something, and unconsciously protect myself by blaming others; or, I desire another and consequently interpret the other's responses as encouraging. Note that, in such cases, the subject will often report finding evidence in his or her experience of, respectively, others' malfeasance or romantic interest.…”

“…Ersatz Response Projection (Kail, 2001;or Feature Projection, Kail, 2007) The subject's belief is a response to a phenomenology which is best explained by appeal to the subject's own mental life. This is 'a matter of representing something "in here" to be "out there"' (Kail, 2010, p. 62), as in the case of colour properties.…”

“…Non-Response Projection (Kail, 2001;or Explanatory Projection, Kail, 2007) The subject's belief is best explained by features of the subject's non-inferential psychology and not as a response to any phenomenological feature. 'For example, when we say that belief in God is a projection of our fear, we are not representing the world to contain our fear but saying that we hold the belief because we are fearful' (Kail, 2010, p. 62).…”

Hume on the Projection of Causal Necessity

“…A projective explanation of a belief would explain how one comes to have that belief in some way other than one's properly responding to the state of the world the belief purports to represent. See also Kail (), (), (), and ().…”

On Hume's Appropriation of Malebranche: Causation and Self

“… 3 Doxee 1916: 693ff; Laird 1932: 100ff; Nadler 2000: 133ff; Church 1935: 92ff and 1938; McCracken 1983: 259ff; Wright 1983 and 1991; Bell 2000; Jones 1982: 19ff; Laird 1932: 100ff; Hendel 1963: 57; Buckle 2001; Kail 2001. This list could be extended. …”