"One of the most sublime questions in philosophy"

Abstract

The paper discusses Hume's theories of causality and vice. According to Hume, the ontological status of necessity and vice can be compared to that of the so-called secondary qualities, that is sounds, colours, heat, and cold, which are not qualities in the objects themselves, but perceptions in the mind. Just as necessity does not reside in the objects we consider, but in the mind that considers them, vice does not reside in actions or characters we observe, but rather in ourselves who observe these actions or characters.