David Hume

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist of the Enlightenment. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy, and his work on empiricism, on causation, and on morality remains influential.

Early Life and Education

Hume was born in 1711 in Edinburgh and was raised on a small family estate in Berwickshire. He entered the University of Edinburgh at the age of twelve.

He abandoned the study of law for philosophy and spent several years in France, where he wrote his first work. He was appointed to posts in the diplomatic service and later served as a librarian in Edinburgh.

He was denied academic appointments because of his religious scepticism. He supported himself by his writing and by his offices.

A Treatise of Human Nature

The Treatise of Human Nature, published in 1739 and 1740, is his major philosophical work. It sought to apply the experimental method of reasoning to moral subjects.

He argued that all knowledge derives from impressions and ideas and that the mind has no innate ideas. He analysed the association of ideas as the mechanism of thought.

The book was poorly received, and Hume was disappointed by its reception. He later revised and popularised its arguments in the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

Causation and Induction

Hume's analysis of causation is among the most famous arguments in philosophy. He argued that we never perceive a necessary connection between a cause and its effect; we perceive only the constant conjunction of events.

The idea of necessary connection arises from custom and from the expectation that the future will resemble the past. The argument raises the problem of induction.

He also argued that the self is not a simple and persistent entity but a bundle of perceptions. His scepticism about personal identity influenced later philosophers.

Morality and Religion

In the Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Hume developed a sentimentalist theory of ethics. He argued that moral judgments are based on sentiment and on the approval of character traits that are useful or agreeable.

He argued that reason is the slave of the passions and that it cannot by itself move us to action. The position is a form of moral anti-rationalism.

His Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion examined the arguments for the existence of God. The work is a critique of the argument from design and is regarded as a masterpiece of philosophical dialogue.

The History of England

Hume wrote a multi-volume History of England that was widely read and influential. The work covered the period from the Roman conquest to the Glorious Revolution.

The History was praised for its style and for its impartiality. It established his reputation as a historian and provided him with a comfortable income.

He died in Edinburgh in 1776. His friends, including Adam Smith, reported that he faced death with characteristic good humour.

Legacy

Hume's influence on philosophy has been immense. Kant said that Hume awakened him from his dogmatic slumbers.

His arguments on causation, on induction, and on morality continue to be central to philosophical debate. His History shaped the writing of history in Britain.

He is remembered as the greatest of the British empiricists and as a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment. His name is associated with the problem of induction and with the is-ought distinction.

The Science of Man

Hume sought to establish a science of human nature on the model of the natural sciences. He proposed to explain the operations of the mind by the association of ideas.

He distinguished impressions, the primary data of experience, from ideas, the copies of impressions in thought. The distinction is the basis of his empiricism.

He applied the method to the understanding, to the passions, and to morals. The project was to place philosophy on an experimental footing.

Personal Identity

Hume argued that the self is not a simple and enduring substance. When we introspect, we find only a succession of perceptions, not a single self.

The idea of personal identity arises from the imagination, which connects the perceptions into a fiction of continuity. The argument anticipated later theories of the self.

He also analysed the idea of substance and argued that we have no impression of an underlying substratum. The critique influenced Kant and the empiricist tradition.

Religion and Natural Theology

The Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion examine the argument from design. The dialogue presents the case for and against the inference from the order of nature to a designing intelligence.

The character Philo sets out the sceptical position, and the work does not reach a definite conclusion. It is regarded as one of the greatest works of philosophical dialogue.

Hume also wrote on miracles and argued that the evidence for a miracle can never be sufficient to establish its occurrence. The argument has been influential in the philosophy of religion.

History and Economics

Hume's History of England was a bestseller and a substantial contribution to historical writing. It covered the period from the Roman conquest to the revolution of 1688.

He wrote essays on economics, including a defence of free trade and an analysis of the quantity theory of money. He was a friend and correspondent of Adam Smith.

He also wrote on the balance of trade and on the public debt. The essays influenced the development of classical economics.

The Scottish Enlightenment

Hume was a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment and a friend of Adam Smith, of Adam Ferguson, and of other leading thinkers. He was a member of the Select Society.

He corresponded widely and supported the publication of the work of his friends. He was known for his generous encouragement of younger writers.

He died in 1776 and was buried on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. His portrait appears on the banknotes of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

See also

• Empiricism
• Scottish Enlightenment