External objects in Hume: spatiality as a criterion for distinguishing between common notion and philosophical notion of body

In this article, we propose a new interpretation of Hume’s concept of external object. We argue that there is a criterion, spatiality, with which the philosopher undertakes a critique of the common notion of body, distinguishing the qualities compatible with the idea of space from those that are not compatible with it. From this critique of the common opinion, Hume’s philosophical notion of body emerges, which is the idea that bodies, or external objects, are the objects of vision or touch, the only ones philosophically compatible with spatiality, to which should be attributed beyond colour and solidit all qualities discovered through experimentation but excluding all qualities incompatible notion of space.

Keywords:
External objects; Spatiality; Phenomenalism