Illo Friday: Wisdom

The Light of Wisdom

David Hume's principle, "one contradictory phenomenon" -- the infamous missing shade of blue. Hume asks us to consider "a person to have enjoyed his sight for thirty years, and to have become perfectly well acquainted with colours of all kinds, except one particular shade of blue..."

"Let all the different shades of that colour,
except that single one, be plac'd before him,
descending gradually from the deepest to the lightest;
‘tis plain, that he will perceive a blank,
where that shade is wanting, and will be sensible,
that there is a greater distance in that place,
between the contiguous colours, than in any other."

Although his philosophy of empiricism views that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge and relies solely on practical experience, might seem contrary to his "missing shade of blue".

Looking at these, is it possible for a man, from his own imagination, to know this shade ever existed, and come up with the idea of that particular missing shade? Even if it had never been conveyed to him by his senses?

There might be few who will say that he can. And this may serve as a proof, that the simple ideas are not always derived from the correspondent impressions. Although the instance, or feeling, is so particular that this scarce captures our attention, and does not count that for it alone, we should alter our general view of things.

This is also to say that in relation to life in general, without ever experiencing a particular feeling, do we say that it is not possible to occur in others? Or in the long run occur or happen to ourselves even? How can one know or understand a particular feeling without ever even feeling it for themselves?

To put it in the simplest form, How will you say that touching a candle's light with a finger hurts when you havent even tried to touch a candle's light? Well, just a thought...

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note: indeed a late entry this time. But this is my Wisdom illo contribution on which was the theme last week. Maybe its just lack of wisdom at the time. hehe...