A Treatise of Human Nature

Outline

A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) is David Hume’s ambitious attempt to build a science of human nature based on experience and observation. Hume examines how we form ideas, why we believe in cause and effect, what makes up the self, and how passions rather than reason drive our actions and moral judgements. Though little noticed at first, the work became one of the most influential books in the history of philosophy.

• Hume tries to build a science of human nature that rests on experience and observation rather than abstract theory.
• Our ideas come from experience, and the book examines how we form them in the first place.
• Our belief in cause and effect is something Hume questions rather than takes for granted.
• Hume asks what the self is actually made of, and does not assume it is a fixed thing.
• Passions, not reason, drive our actions and our moral judgements, which is the book's boldest claim.

David Hume (1711–1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, and economist and a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment. He is known for his empiricism, his scepticism about causation, and his view that reason serves the passions. His works include An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, The History of England, and Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.