A Treatise of Human Nature · Chapter
Section II: Division of the Subject explained
Hume divides impressions into those of sensation and reflection, noting that simple impressions precede their corresponding ideas.
What happens
Hume divides impressions into those of sensation and reflection, noting that simple impressions precede their corresponding ideas. He explains the order: sensation gives rise to impressions, which are copied as ideas; these ideas then produce impressions of reflection (desires, aversions, hopes, fears), which are in turn copied into ideas. Since impressions of reflection arise from ideas, Hume chooses to examine ideas first, leaving the study of sensations to anatomists and natural philosophers.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
In Part II, the dramatic climax occurs when Hume systematically dismantles the direct, simple origin of love a…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Empiricism and the Primacy of Impressions
Hume asserts that simple impressions are prior to ideas, and that impressions of reflection derive from prior ideas of sensation.
Characters to notice
- David Hume
Author of the Treatise, presenting the division of impressions and the rationale for beginning with ideas.
Key passages
“An impression first strikes upon the senses, and makes us perceive heat or cold, thirst or hunger, pleasure or pain of some kind or other.”
A sensory impression, such as heat or pain, is the initial experience that enters the mind.
Illustrates the origin of impressions of sensation.
“This idea of pleasure or pain, when it returns upon the soul, produces the new impressions of desire and aversion, hope and fear, which may properly be called impressions of reflection, because derived from it.”
When the idea of pleasure or pain recurs, it gives rise to new impressions like desire and hope, which are called impressions of reflection because they stem from that idea.
Explains the derivation of impressions of reflection from ideas.
