... impressions of reflexion. Impressions of sensation are received through our senses and represent our experience of the world. They occur before impressions and thus are called primary. Impressions of reflexion are received in a different manner. First, there is an impression of sensation and then an idea (a pale copy of the sensation) is made and returned to the soul. At this point, it produces an impression of reflexion otherwise called a passion. Reason, Hume states, on the other hand, is a mechanism used to discover truth or falsehood (458). Reason uses ideas that are not found in the soul, to come to conclusions about truth and falsehood and therefore have no effect upon the soul. Hume's first argument to support his case is that while passions can motivate us to act, reason alone cannot. He says that things involving reason - for example math - are 'motivationally inert' (413-414). ...

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