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1、ScepticismwithregardtoReason*DavidOwen,UniversityofArizonaSectionOne:IntroductionUntilrecently,philosophicalscholarshiphasnotbeenkindtoHume’sargumentsin“Of1scepticismwithregardtoreason”(ATreatiseofHumanNature,1.4.1).Reidgivesthenegativeargumentsaprettyroughride,t
2、houghintheendheagreeswithHume’sconclusionthatreason2cannotbedefendedbyreason.Stove’scommentthattheargumentis“notmerelydefective,butoneoftheworstargumentsevertoimposeitselfonamanofgenius”(Stove1973),whileextreme,isnotuntypical.ManyimportantbooksonHume(e.g.Stroud19
3、77)simplyignoreit,thoughthismaybebecauseitisdifficulttofindanytraceoftheargumentsintheEnquiry3ConcerningtheHumanUnderstanding.Furthermore,whenattentionwaspaidtothearguments,itwasdevotedmainlytothesecondofthetwonegativeargumentsHumeputsforward,andthatargumentwashe
4、ldtocontainanelementarymistakeconcerningbeliefsaboutbeliefs(McNabb1951).Fogelin’simportantworkonHume’sscepticismshowstherolethat“Ofscepticismwithregardtoreason”mustplayinanyassessmentofHume’sscepticism,butheishardlyfriendlyto4theargumentsof1.4.1themselves.Amoresy
5、mpatheticaccountofHume’sargumentwaspresentedinMorris’simportant1989article.Morrisarguedthattheissueconcernedthelevelofconfidencewehaveinourbeliefs,andfurthermore,thatthenegativeargumentsweredirected,notatreasoningeneral,butatacertain“formalist”conceptionofreason,
6、aconceptionthatHumereplacedwithhisown.AnnetteBaier(1991)followedMorrisconcerningthislatterpoint.Owen(1994),whileagreeingwithMorris’sympatheticrenderingofthearguments,arguedthatitstargetwasnotlimited,butquitegeneral.Fogelin(1993,followinghis1985and1983)alsoarguedt
7、hatHume’stargetwasquitegeneral,andconcludedthatHumeneverentirelyrejectedthescepticalconsequencesofthenegativearguments.Althoughthescepticalargumentsaregenerallyheldtoshowthatbeliefsbasedonreasonareunjustified,Garrett(1997)andOwen(1999)arguedthatthenegativeargumen
8、tswerenotmeanttoshowthatsuchbeliefswereindangerofbeingunjustified,butratherthattheywereindangerofceasingtoremainbeliefsatall.Oneoftheirargumentshingedontreatin
