The Thoughts Of Hume In Systemic Functional Linguistics [5]

Russell (1961: 638):

Hume begins by distinguishing seven kinds of philosophical relation: resemblance, identity, relations of time and place, proportion in quantity or number, degrees in any quality, contrariety and causation.  These, he says, may be divided into two kinds: those that depend only on the ideas, and those that can be changed without any change in the ideas.  Of the first kind are resemblance, contrariety, degrees of quality, and proportions in quantity or number.  But spatio-temporal and causal relations are of the second kind.  Only relations of the first kind give certain knowledge; our knowledge concerning the others is only probable.

Blogger Comments:

Through the lens of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, Hume's philosophical relations correspond to ideational relations:

• 'resemblance' to enhancement: comparative,
• 'identity' to relational being,
• 'relations of time and place' to enhancement: location and extent,
• 'degrees in any quality' to enhancement: manner: degree,
• 'contrariety' to extension: addition: adversative, and
• 'causation' to enhancement: cause.

On the other hand, 'certain' and 'probable' correspond to interpersonal values: high and median values of modalisation.

Hume, then, associates high values of modalisation with propositions involving relations of comparative or manner enhancement or adversative extension, and median values of modalisation with propositions involving involving relations enhancing location, extent or cause.