Overview
David Hume (1711–1776) was the Scottish Enlightenment’s greatest empiricist and skeptical naturalist, author of the Treatise of Human Nature and later Enquiries. Largely denied academic chairs over religious suspicion, he served as librarian and diplomat and wrote a bestselling History of England. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion scrutinize design arguments. Handbook dates: 1711–1776. Adam Smith eulogized his cheerfulness and integrity.
Main ideas
All ideas derive from impressions; meaningful philosophy traces terms to experience. Causation is constant conjunction plus customary projection, not perceived necessary connection. Induction lacks non-circular rational justification yet remains psychologically inevitable. The self is a bundle of perceptions; personal identity is practical fiction. Morality rests on sentiment—sympathy and usefulness—not pure reason alone. Miracles and natural religion fail evidentiary tests against uniform experience.
Major works
- A Treatise of Human Nature
- Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
- Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
- Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Legacy
Hume awoke Kant and shaped analytic empiricism, cognitive science of religion, and secular ethics. Skepticism about induction remains a live problem. He is Scotland’s philosophical signature worldwide.
Themes in this archive
Reason (2) · Knowledge (1) · Self (1) · Morality (1) · Society (1)