The Essential Philosophical Works

by David Hume, Charlotte R. Brown (Introduction), William Edward Morris (Introduction)

David Hume (1711–1776) was the most important philosopher ever to write in English, as well as a master stylist. This volume contains his major philosophical works. A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–1740), published while Hume was still in his twenties, consists of three books on the understanding, the passions, and morals. It applies the experimental method of reasoning to human nature in a revolution that was intended to make Hume the Newton of the moral sciences. Disappointed with the Treatise’s failure to bring about such a revolution, Hume later recast Book I as An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1751), and Book III as An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, which he regarded as 'incomparably the best' of all his works. Both Enquiries went through several editions in his lifetime.
Hume’s works, controversial in his day, remain deeply and widely influential in ours, especially for his contributions to our understanding of the nature of morality, political and economic theory, philosophy of religion, and philosophical naturalism.
This volume also includes Hume’s anonymous Abstract of Books I and II of the Treatise, and the short autobiographical essay, 'My Own Life', which he wrote just before his death.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Classics

860 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2011

About the author

David Hume was a Scottish historian, philosopher, economist, diplomat and essayist known today especially for his radical philosophical empiricism and scepticism.

In light of Hume's central role in the Scottish Enlightenment, and in the history of Western philosophy, Bryan Magee judged him as a philosopher "widely regarded as the greatest who has ever written in the English language." While Hume failed in his attempts to start a university career, he took part in various diplomatic and military missions of the time. He wrote The History of England which became a bestseller, and it became the standard history of England in its day.

His empirical approach places him with John Locke, George Berkeley, and a handful of others at the time as a British Empiricist.

Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Hume strove to create a total naturalistic "science of man" that examined the psychological basis of human nature. In opposition to the rationalists who preceded him, most notably René Descartes, he concluded that desire rather than reason governed human behaviour. He also argued against the existence of innate ideas, concluding that humans have knowledge only of things they directly experience. He argued that inductive reasoning and therefore causality cannot be justified rationally. Our assumptions in favour of these result from custom and constant conjunction rather than logic. He concluded that humans have no actual conception of the self, only of a bundle of sensations associated with the self.

Hume's compatibilist theory of free will proved extremely influential on subsequent moral philosophy. He was also a sentimentalist who held that ethics are based on feelings rather than abstract moral principles, and expounded the is–ought problem.

Hume has proved extremely influential on subsequent western philosophy, especially on utilitarianism, logical positivism, William James, the philosophy of science, early analytic philosophy, cognitive philosophy, theology and other movements and thinkers. In addition, according to philosopher Jerry Fodor, Hume's Treatise is "the founding document of cognitive science". Hume engaged with contemporary intellectual luminaries such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, James Boswell, and Adam Smith (who acknowledged Hume's influence on his economics and political philosophy). Immanuel Kant credited Hume with awakening him from "dogmatic slumbers".

Reviews

[Cuồng Say]

two years to finish this s-o-b.

[Trystan W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sound arguments brought to their natural conclusions! Confronting topics that other philosophers shy away from because they're scary! Being right (about epistemology)! This is a very good book.

[Rajhesh Panchanadhan]

With an introduction by Charlotte R. Brown and William Edward Morris. David Hume (1711–1776) was the most important philosopher ever to write in English, as well as a master stylist. This volume contains his major philosophical works. A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–1740), published while Hume was still in his twenties, consists of three books on the understanding, the passions, and morals. It applies the experimental method of reasoning to human nature in a revolution that was intended to make Hume the Newton of the moral sciences. Disappointed with the Treatise’s failure to bring about such a revolution, Hume later recast Book I as An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1751), and Book III as An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, which he regarded as ‘incomparably the best’ of all his works. Both Enquiries went through several editions in his lifetime. Hume’s works, controversial in his day, remain deeply and widely influential in ours, especially for his contributions to our understanding of the nature of morality, political and economic theory, philosophy of religion, and philosophical naturalism. This volume also includes Hume’s anonymous Abstract of Books I and II of the Treatise, and the short autobiographical essay, ‘My Own Life’, which he wrote just before his death.

[Arbab Taimoor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hume is a bit of a hard philosopher, for contemplating Hume's philosophy, one should have the proper grip on the overall philosophical concepts, notably how the human mind develops and how they start to feel or think, what are the basic roots of any human mind.

I am not able to comprehend his philosophy in a few words, it needs proper time and concentration but what I can do, is assure all of the readers that once you understand the philosophy of Hume, you will understand one-third psychology of human beings.

[ojin · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Hume has possibly got to be the greatest philosopher of all time in my opinion. His way of thinking felt very grounded and relatable. An amalgamation of both the psyche and the rational. everybody is emotionally driven and not nearly as rational as everybody pretends to be. Hume touches your heart with sympathy and passion. He lived among the people, patient and composed. A great man, whose works echo his personality.

[Morris Yen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An affordable collection of Hume's important philosophical works.
The Treatise is accompanied by the revised Enquiries.

[Joel Gn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hume's ideas aren't the most interesting, but he certainly had, and arguably still has clarity and relevance in spades. Contemporary philosophers, quite unfortunately, are either fluent in one...or none!