Hume’s spokesman at this point, the character called Cleanthes, goes on to say that for all we know, the material world or universe as a whole itself might be the necessarily existent being, in spite of the way in which parts of it depend upon other parts. For it must be ‘unknown, inconceivable qualities’ that make anything a ‘necessary existent’. And for all we know, such unknown inconceivable qualities may attach to the ordinary physical universe, rather to any immaterial thing or person or deity lying behind it. It is important to remember here that as far as everyday experience goes, minds
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