The view that he has proposed is not shared by others. The author’s melancholy is increased when he turns outward and sees that he is quite alone on his barren rock. It seems that the voyage of discovery he has undertaken can go no further, which for the moment makes the author “resolve to perish on the barren rock, on which I am at present, rather than venture myself upon that boundless ocean, which runs out into immensity.”Ģ. This gives rise to a severe melancholy which feeds on itself. Finally, he believes that it is impossible to correct these faculties. It makes him even more apprehensive when he considers (in light of the results of Part IV) that the faculties he would use in the investigation are wretched, weak and disorderly. To begin with, he has made many errors in the past, which undermines his confidence in his future judgments. The author’s goal in the Treatise is to provide a comprehensive view of human nature, and yet the meditations in Part IV of Book I suggest that the goal is unattainable. But the skeptical crisis of the author stems from the unique conclusion he drew regarding the pre-eminent role of the imagination, and the limited role of reason, in the operations of the human understanding.ġ.
by the sixteenth century French philosopher Montaigne, which questioned the power of human reason.
There had been writings on skepticism, e.g. The problem which the author wrestles in this section is quite unlike any that had appeared in the literature to date. However, before proceeding, he steps back to reflect on his results thus far, particularly on whether they might frustrate his desire to continue with the project of studying human nature scientifically. The author has concluded his survey of the workings of the human understanding and is poised to examine the passions in Book II. Of the sceptical and other systems of philosophy.
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