The Nature of General Rules

According to my system, all reasonings are nothing but the effects of custom.

Custom only influences by:

• enlivening the imagination, and
• giving us a strong conception of anything

Our judgment and imagination can never be contrary.

• Custom cannot make our imagination opposite our judgement.

Rather, it is the general rules that operate on our judgement on causes and effects.

These rules are formed by:

• the nature of our understanding, and
• our experience

By them we learn to distinguish the accidental circumstances from the effective causes.

When we find that an effect can be produced without Event X, then we conclude that that Event X is not part of the cause, however frequently conjoined with it.

This necessity of frequent conjunction makes it have some effect on the mind.

Despite the opposite conclusion from general rules, the opposition of these 2 principles:

• produces a contrariety in our thoughts
• causes us to ascribe the:
  • one inference to our judgment, and
  • other inference to our imagination.

The general rule is attributed to our judgment, as being more extensive and constant.

The exception to the imagination is attributed as being more capricious and uncertain. Thus our general rules oppose each other in a way.

General rules have 2 influences:

1. When an event that resembles a cause appears strongly, the imagination jumps to the usual effect.

When we review this act of the mind and compare it with the operations of the understanding, we find it to be irregular and illogical.

This is why we reject it.

• The understanding condemns the uncontrolled mind

• The vulgar are commonly guided by the uncontrolled mind

• The wise are guided by the understanding

The following general rules is a very unphilosophical kind of probability.

• Yet we can only correct such unphilosophical probabilities by following rules

General rules operate on the imagination even against our judgment.

This is why general rules add force on the ideas presented by the judgement.

For example, there are subtler ways to praise or insult someone.

If someone insults be using a different language or words, I would be less agitated had he used direct words.

This difference is the result of general rules.

He uses general rules to insult me directly.

• This uses a general connection
• This is like an impression

He uses niche rules to insult me indirectly.

• This uses a specific connection
• This is like an idea

This difference in the imagination has a suitable effect on the passions.