Custom and General Rules

Habit and custom shape our judgments and passions, leading us to apply general rules that extend beyond immediate experience, influencing pride, morality, and social order.

The association of ideas is described as a 'gentle force' that operates uniformly, and Hume notes that long custom leads the imagination to follow regular patterns.

The chapter explains how general terms and abstract ideas function through custom and habit, which allow the mind to apply particular ideas universally.

The formation of abstract ideas of space and time relies on custom and the habitual association of similar impressions.

The mind forms fictions of perfect equality and right lines through custom, even when reason has ceased to support them.