" The Missing Shade of Blue " is an example introduced by the Scottish philosopher David Hume to show that it is at least conceivable that the mind can generate an idea without first being …

Hume's discussion of the missing shade of blue shows that he does not accept such a theory of perception, but it is not easy to find a clear state- ment of his positive views on these matters.

Sep 2, 2014 · The existence of the idea of a missing shade of blue contradicts Hume’s Copy Principle that simple ideas all derive from antecedent simple impressions. But he dismisses …

The suggestion here is that, for Hume, simple ideas can resemble each other in various degrees without compromising their simplicity. Because of this, the system of colors forms a space in …

Oct 20, 2025 · Hume imagines a person who has seen every shade of blue except one – say, a particular shade between two others on a colour gradient. If you showed them this colour …

Suppose, therefore, a person to have enjoyed his sight for thirty years, and to have become perfectly acquainted with colours of all kinds except one particular shade of blue, for instance, …

The issues of why Hume is confident that the imagination can fill in a missing shade of blue when a person is presented with all shades of blue except one, and why he is completely …

But in Hume's example, no extra-mental objects or events play a direct role in creating the imagined colour. In fact, this colour never appears at all outside the subject's mind, and he …

While reading An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by Hume, I came upon a part where Hume draws a counterexample to his epistemological theory then dismisses it as insignificant.

Two closely connected problems or questions arise concerning the thought experiment that Hume carries out and would have the reader carry out with regard to the missing shade ofblue.