In Which a Labyrinth is Explored and Landmarks Established

Abstract

‘Problems’, in philosophy, are states of perplexity into which philosophers get — often as a result of their own well-intentioned efforts to correct the mistakes of other philosophers. Refreshingly, they sometimes admit to being bewildered, and to not knowing what can have gone wrong in their thinking about some matter. Let us begin with just such an admission. It is by the British empiricist philosopher David Hume. I do not think the terminology in which he formulated his problem is particularly conducive to finding a solution, but before we start clarifying — drawing distinctions, and so on — let us see what it is that has to be clarified.