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An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

David Hume

Why we're reading this: The subject of skepticism in philosophy is introduced by one of the Enlightenment's finest thinkers. The …more
[close] The subject of skepticism in philosophy is introduced by one of the Enlightenment's finest thinkers. The book is easy for generalists to read, and its conclusions factor strongly into contemporary philosophical discussions.

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Sep 02, 2014 Dr. A rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-history-of-philosophy-curated

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Read this and reviews of other classics in Western Philosophy on the History page of www.BestPhilosophyBooks.org (a thinkPhilosophy Production).
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David Hume’s An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a more succinct and polemical version of his earlier work A Treatise of Human Nature. In this grand work of epistemology, Hume begins by making a key distinction between impressions (e.g., sensory, emotive, affective) and ideas (thoughts, beliefs, or memories) that are created through the o ---
Read this and reviews of other classics in Western Philosophy on the History page of www.BestPhilosophyBooks.org (a thinkPhilosophy Production).
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David Hume’s An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a more succinct and polemical version of his earlier work A Treatise of Human Nature. In this grand work of epistemology, Hume begins by making a key distinction between impressions (e.g., sensory, emotive, affective) and ideas (thoughts, beliefs, or memories) that are created through the operations of resemblance, contiguity, or cause and effect. Within this framework, he is able to give a complete epistemological account.

It is with the latter operation of cause and effect that Hume makes his most controversial argument. Matters of fact (such as those that science seeks to establish) are based on causal inferences - we see that the sun rises every morning and, therefore, believe the sun will again rise tomorrow. But certainty about this “fact” depends on the future being identical to the past, a premise that is not logically guaranteed in the inference itself -- it can only be established after the fact! In other words, we cannot make predictions about the future based on the past unless we agree that the future will be exactly like the past (but if this were the case, how is change possible?) Not being all-knowing beings, we must proceed with caution where it comes to making future predictions.

Hume thereby proves that matters of fact cannot be known with absolute certainty, and the link between ideas and impressions (hanging on the mind/body dualism) is never completely certain. Given this, Hume turns to examine how his epistemology impacts other areas of human understanding, engaging significantly in debates over free will and determinism where he develops a "compabilist account": we form beliefs and act in a way that allows us to get by in the world. That is, our beliefs need to be compatible with the world, for practical reasons.

Also notable in this work are his views on animals (that they have a analogous capacity for reason), and on the role that emotions play in making judgements, forming beliefs, and acting prudently in the world.

This Scottish philosopher is considered one of the great three "British" Empiricists of his era - along with Locke and Berkeley -- see compilation titled The Empiricists. This work in particular will lead Immanuel Kant to “awaken” from his “dogmatic slumber - see Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. He was also known as a jolly man of good temperament who died quite cheerfully — quite an achievement for any philosopher.

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Read this and reviews of other classics in Western Philosophy on the History page of www.BestPhilosophyBooks.org (a thinkPhilosophy Production).
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Apr 18, 2008 Tyler rated it liked it

Shelves: philosophy

This is a worthwhile and easily readable book on philosophy that a non-philosopher can gain from reading.

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Mar 26, 2012 pearl rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

I actually did not enjoy this as much as I'd hoped. I don't even know if I can explain it... Hume's insights into the human psyche are still powerful and relevant. His writing style, though ornamented, bears a gentle glow of benevolence that is hard to dislike (well, benevolent, that is, until the very last line--hooboy). Yet, when I finished reading the Enquiry, I couldn't help but feel slightly underwhelmed? Maybe my previous familiarity with the problem of induction/causation dulled me to its ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Joseph Sales is currently reading it

Shelves: analytic-philosophy-deep

Hume writes like those who when speaking delight, listening so intently to the sound of their own voices; here it's not repellent but oddly attractive. I'm hooked. ...more

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