David Hume

Lore & Background

David Hume was born on 7 May 1711 in a tenement on the north side of Edinburgh's Lawnmarket. He was the second of two sons born to Catherine Home and Joseph Home of Chirnside. Joseph died just after David's second birthday, and Catherine raised the two brothers and their sister on her own. Hume attended the University of Edinburgh at an unusually early age—either 12 or possibly as young as 10—and initially considered a career in law, but developed an insurmountable aversion to everything but philosophy and general learning. He did not graduate.

At around age 18, Hume made a philosophical discovery that opened up a 'new Scene of Thought', inspiring him to devote himself entirely to it. He soon came to the verge of a mental breakdown, diagnosed with the 'Disease of the Learned'. He recovered by taking bitters and anti-hysteric pills, along with a pint of claret daily, and adopting a more active life. Hume never married and lived partly at his Chirnside family home. He changed his family name's spelling in 1734 because 'Home' was not well known in England.

Hume worked for four years on his first major work, A Treatise of Human Nature, completing it in 1738 at age 27. Although many scholars today consider the Treatise to be Hume's most important work, critics in Great Britain at the time described it as 'abstract and unintelligible'. He later found literary success as an essayist and historian, and a career as a librarian at the Advocates Library, which led to his writing the six-volume The History of England, a bestseller that became the definitive history of England for over 60 years.

Reader's Guide

David Hume's significance lies in his systematic development of empiricism, philosophical scepticism, and metaphysical naturalism. He rejected innate ideas, holding that all ideas derive from impressions, and distinguished relations of ideas (known a priori) from matters of fact (known through experience). His problem of induction argued that inductive reasoning and belief in causality cannot be justified empirically but result from custom and mental habit. Hume held that passions rather than reason govern human behaviour, and he first clearly expounded the is–ought problem, stating that a statement of fact alone can never give rise to a normative conclusion. He denied a conception of the self, positing only a bundle of perceptions, and advanced a compatibilist theory of free will. His philosophy of religion, including rejection of miracles and critique of the argument from design, was especially controversial. Hume's legacy affected utilitarianism, logical positivism, the philosophy of science, early analytic philosophy, cognitive science, and theology. Immanuel Kant credited Hume as the inspiration that awakened him from his 'dogmatic slumbers'.

Did You Know?

• Hume changed his family name's spelling in 1734 because 'Home' was not well known in England.
• He attended the University of Edinburgh at age 12 or possibly as young as 10.
• Hume's first major work, A Treatise of Human Nature, 'fell dead-born from the press' according to him.
• He was diagnosed with the 'Disease of the Learned' and treated with bitters, anti-hysteric pills, and a pint of claret daily.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"David Hume (7 May 1711, N.S. [April 26, O.S.] – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist." — David Hume "Of Money (1752) as quoted in David Hume: Writings on Economics (1955, 1970) ed., Eugene Rotwein, p. 45." — David Hume "Playfully ironic letter to Adam Smith regarding the positive reception of "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" — David Hume "The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster." — David Hume