Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Hume on Probability and the Passions

This paper is about Hume on the impact of space and time on probability judgements and the passions. It turns out that anything closely related to us in space and time has a powerful intensifying effect on our judgements and passions whereas a reduction of intensity is associated with distance in space and time. These effects of space and time may lead to mistakes in probability judgements that may be corrected. Space and time impact the passions in ways that are relevant to Hume’s approach to morals and politics, since he grounds morals and politics in passions. The natural tendency to prefer the present and near over the remote in space and time may give rise to errors in moral judgements and even to actions that go against our own interest as a member of society. This tendency cannot be eliminated from human nature but may be corrected, restrained or guided in different directions with the right sort of conditions in place. Hume on the spatial and temporal dimensions of probability and the passions applies to a range of topics of contemporary interest. His approach to probability judgements in spacetime may be considered a precursor to recent work on the cognitive psychology of decisionmaking. When it comes to the passions, Hume’s observations on the effect of distance in time in particular can be compared to discussions of temporal discounting, central in disciplines such as behavioral economics, neuroscience, psychology, environmental policy, and recent debates in experimental psychology and philosophy over future bias. KEYWORDS: Hume; Space; Time; Probability; Passions