Who Is?:
David Hume is one of the most distinguished empiricists and skeptics of the Western tradition. A prominent figure in the history of early modern philosophy, according to some he is also the most important thinker to ever write in English. Hume’s skeptical challenges awoke Kant from his "dogmatic slumber," as the Prussian philosopher himself recalls. Hume’s most influential philosophical writings include A Treatise on Human Nature (1739-1740) the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) and the Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), and the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779). Along with other central figures of early modern philosophy, such as Leibniz and Spinoza, Hume never held an academic post and was also devoted to intellectual pursuits other than philosophy; most notably, he authored a six-volume History of England between 1754 and 1762, which was a best-seller.
Life:
Hume was born from a family of relatively modest origins in Edinburgh. His father died when David was only two years, living his mother to take care of three children, two boys and a girl. The Humes lived near Berwick until David was age twelve. At that point his older brother went to the University of Edinburgh and his mother decided to send the young David along, because of his precocious and bright mind. The goal was to make a lawyer of him, but Hume fell in love with the classics, such as Cicero’s De Officiis?. He thus undertook solitary three-years rigorous program of studies in philosophy, to try and develop a new philosophical program.
The program however turned out to be overtly burdensome for the young scholar, and his psychological health was compromised. For a change of pace he worked as a clerk for a sugar importer in Bristol. Recovered his condition, he decided to settle in France to try and develop his philosophical vision. He took modest quarters in La Flèche, the small town home of a famous Jesuit college which had educated some of the finest philosophical minds of modern philosophy, including Descartes. In La Flèche, Hume drafted A Treatise on Human Nature between 1734 and 1737, probably his most important philosophical work and, to date, one of the most compelling texts of modern philosophy.
Emendated of some of its most controversial sections (such as the one on miracles, still much read nowadays), Hume published the Treatise between 1739 and 1740 in England, where he had made return in 1737. He thus believed to be deserving of a position in the British academic system, but he twice failed to be received among its ranks: in 1745 he was not selected for a Chair in Ethical and Pneumatical (philosophy of mind) Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Six years later he was denied a chair in Logic at the University of Glasgow. His academic career was not meant to be.
For the remainder of his life, Hume took up a number of short-term positions. He then worked as a tutor; then as secretary to his cousin (a Lieutenant-General) during a military expedition in Quebec as well as on diplomatic missions in Vienna and Turin; then as a librarian; as a secretary again…The greatest intellectual achievement of which he was recognized in life was a History of England, which he published in six volumes between 1754 and 1752: it was with this work that he finally secured the financial independency necessary to devote himself to his philosophical works. The latter part of his life was hence devoted to revise his writings.
The program however turned out to be overtly burdensome for the young scholar, and his psychological health was compromised. For a change of pace he worked as a clerk for a sugar importer in Bristol. Recovered his condition, he decided to settle in France to try and develop his philosophical vision. He took modest quarters in La Flèche, the small town home of a famous Jesuit college which had educated some of the finest philosophical minds of modern philosophy, including Descartes. In La Flèche, Hume drafted A Treatise on Human Nature between 1734 and 1737, probably his most important philosophical work and, to date, one of the most compelling texts of modern philosophy.
Emendated of some of its most controversial sections (such as the one on miracles, still much read nowadays), Hume published the Treatise between 1739 and 1740 in England, where he had made return in 1737. He thus believed to be deserving of a position in the British academic system, but he twice failed to be received among its ranks: in 1745 he was not selected for a Chair in Ethical and Pneumatical (philosophy of mind) Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Six years later he was denied a chair in Logic at the University of Glasgow. His academic career was not meant to be.
For the remainder of his life, Hume took up a number of short-term positions. He then worked as a tutor; then as secretary to his cousin (a Lieutenant-General) during a military expedition in Quebec as well as on diplomatic missions in Vienna and Turin; then as a librarian; as a secretary again…The greatest intellectual achievement of which he was recognized in life was a History of England, which he published in six volumes between 1754 and 1752: it was with this work that he finally secured the financial independency necessary to devote himself to his philosophical works. The latter part of his life was hence devoted to revise his writings.
Hume's Philosophical Contribution:
Hume's contribution to the development of philosophy spans across all the discipline. His skeptical doubts concerning the relationship between cause and effect as well as the existence of substances (including the first person) are to date the starting points for research on those topics: they pose some of the deepest challenged to the possibility of any metaphysical inquiry, as already Kant realized. But, Hume has given substantial contributions also to the ethical theory, in which he defended a version of sentimentalism, a popular view at the time in England already defended among others by Adam Smith. Hume's account of religion, fully spelled out in the posthumously published Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779), also constitutes a key stone in the history of theological thinking, mining all attempts to construe theological knowledge on rational grounds. In general, Hume systematically criticized all those philosophical ideas, theories, and methodologies relying on rationalistic grounds; because of this, he is regarded as probably the main champion of empiricism in the history of Western thought.
Further Online Readings:
"Hume" at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
An online edition of Hume's major writings.
The Early Modern Text edition of Hume's works.
The Hume society website, an organization promoting scholarship on all aspects of the thought and writings of David Hume.
An online edition of Hume's major writings.
The Early Modern Text edition of Hume's works.
The Hume society website, an organization promoting scholarship on all aspects of the thought and writings of David Hume.
