The Idea of Existence

in the idea of existence, david hume is negating the existence of the concept of existence. it also leads him to confuse the difference between the idea and a belief. he does see a difference but he does not explain it clearly.

according to hume after we form an idea of something, we would not add anything to it if we then affirm its existence. the idea that god exists adds nothing to the idea of God, the idea of existence is not added to any other quality god may have.

according to hume the difference between the idea of something and the belief that the thing exists does not consist in any difference of the idea but in a way it is presented to us, the way we understand it. i believe that there is water on mars when the idea of water on that planet is represented by itself to me in a forceful, vivacious way, and when this idea is linked to the current expression that goes with it.

although there is no difference in content between ideas of something and a belief that this something exists, it does not mean that the concept of existence does not exists. there is a big difference between having the concept of god and believing that god exists. if this was not true, how could we ever decide that something does not exist?i have a concept of what a unicorn is but i also know that the unicorns do not exist. so while we accept that the concept of existence is a different kind of concept of those of unicrons or god, it does not mean that the concept of existence does not exist. hume finds it difficult to admit that this concept of existence does not exist. hume finds it difficult to admit that this concept exists due to an empiricist prejudice that the concept is nothing more than a mental image.

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