ABSTRACT
The Humean mental universe is frequently interpreted as consisting of inert atomistic mental elements that are identifiable and semantically evaluable in themselves. Similarly to the inert material particles of Newtonian physics, these mental elements are imagined to interact with each other and their interaction to provide the sole dynamics of the system. While this interpretation fits some aspects of Hume’s conceptual imagery, it does not completely fit with its chemical and organic aspects. The latter aspects invoke more than atomistic mental contents and their interactions: they invoke affinities and sympathies between these contents and qualitative transformations arising from the activity of the faculties. They conspire for a common end of harmonious mental functioning. Hume did not constrain the structural role of affinities and qualitative transformations to the mental universe: elective attractions were also pivotal in his account of large-scale economic and political processes driving towards common societal ends.
