Berkeley and Hume on Time and Simultaneity

Lorne Falkenstein (Western University), Lorne Falkenstein

Both Berkeley and Hume maintained that time can only be perceived to pass insofar as there is some succession in our thoughts.  Consistently with the doctrine that to be is to be perceived, Berkeley further maintained that time only exists insofar as there is such a succession.  Consistently with the realism he considered to be undeniable in other contexts, Hume was willing to allow that time might pass even when there is no succession in our thoughts.  But he maintained that any perception of the passage of time requires a succession of noticeably different thoughts.  Each overreached himself in attempting to draw these further conclusions.  I explain why, in opposition to recent attempts to defend their positions.