第42章
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  whicharetheonlyconditionsspecified,andwhichheseemstoexplainnotastheconditionsbutastheproductofassociation。J。S。Millperceivedthatsomethingwaswantingwhichheafterwardstriedtosupply。Iwilljustindicateoneortwopoints,whichmayshowwhatproblemsthefatherbequeathedtothesonJamesMill,atoneplace,discussestheoddproblem’howithappensthatalltrainsofthoughtarenotthesame。’90Themoreobviousquestionis,onhishypothesis,howithappensthatanytwopeoplehavethesamebeliefs,sincethebeliefsaremadeofthemostvaryingmaterials。If,again,twoideaswhenassociatedremaindistinct,wehaveHume’sdifficulty。Whateverisdistinguishable,heargued,isseparable。

  Iftwoideassimplyliesidebyside,asisapparentlyimpliedby’contiguity,’

  sothateachcanbetakenapartwithoutchange,whyshouldwesupposethattheywillneverexistapart,or,indeed,thattheyshouldeveragaincometogether?Thecontiguitydoesnotdependuponthem,butuponsomeinscrutablecollocation,ofwhichwecanonlysaythatitexistsnow。ThisistheproblemwhichgreatlyoccupiedJ。S。Mill。

  The’indissoluble’or’inseparable’

  association,whichbecamethegrandarcanumoftheschool,whileintendedtoanswersomeofthesedifficulties,raisesothers。Millseemstoinsistuponsplittingaunitintopartsinorderthatitmaybeagainbroughttogetherbyassociation。SoJ。S。Mill,inanadmiringnote,confirmshisfather’sexplanation’oneofthemostimportantthoughtsinthewholetreatise’oftheinfinityofspace。91Wethinkspaceinfinitebecausewealways’associate’positionwithextension。Surelyspaceisextension;andtothinkofonewithouttheotherimpliesacontradiction。

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