David Hume's 1748 philosophical treatise examines the nature and limits of human knowledge, challenging assumptions about causation, induction, and religious belief. The Scottish Enlightenment thinker argues that much of what we consider certain knowledge actually stems from habit and custom rather than logical reasoning.
1. Moral philosophy, or the science of human nature, may be treated after two different manners; each of which has its peculiar merit, and may contribute to the entertainment, instruction, and reformation of mankind. The one considers man chiefly as born for action; and as influenced in his measures by taste and sentiment; pursuing one object, and avoiding another, according to the value which these objects seem to possess, and according to the light in which they present themselves. As virtue, of all objects, is allowed to be the most valuable, this species of philosophers paint her in the most amiable colours; borrowing all helps from poetry and eloquence, and treating their subject in an easy and obvious manner, and such as is best fitted to please the imagination, and engage the affections. They select the most striking observations and instances from common life; place opposite char…Continue reading →
A brilliant Scottish philosopher of the 18th century, this skeptical thinker revolutionized our understanding of human knowledge and reasoning. His groundbreaking works on empiricism and causality challenged traditional beliefs about what we can truly know, profoundly influencing modern philosophy, psychology, and science with his rigorous questioning of assumed truths. All works by David Hume →
Browse all Philosophy · 17th-18th C works