40 Facts About D Hume

David Hume was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, librarian and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism, scepticism, and naturalism.

Aged 18 or so, D Hume made a philosophical discovery that opened up to him "a new Scene of Thought", inspiring him "to throw up every other Pleasure or Business to apply entirely to it".

From this inspiration, D Hume set out to spend a minimum of 10 years reading and writing.

In 1745, during the Jacobite risings, D Hume tutored the Marquess of Annandale, an engagement that ended in disarray after about a year.

From 1746, D Hume served for three years as secretary to General James St Clair, who was envoy to the courts of Turin and Vienna.

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At that time D Hume wrote Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, later published as An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

In 1762 D Hume moved from Jack's Land on the Canongate to James Court on the Lawnmarket.

From 1763 to 1765, D Hume was invited to attend Lord Hertford in Paris, where he became secretary to the British embassy.

In 1765, D Hume served as British Charge d'affaires, writing "despatches to the British Secretary of State".

In 1766, D Hume left Paris to accompany Jean-Jacques Rousseau to England.

In 1767, D Hume was appointed Under Secretary of State for the Northern Department.

Hume's nephew and namesake, David Hume of Ninewells, was a co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783.

One such disappointment D Hume discusses in this account is in the initial literary reception of the Treatise, which he claims to have overcome by means of the success of the Essays: "the work was favourably received, and soon made me entirely forget my former disappointment".

David Hume died at the southwest corner of St Andrew's Square in Edinburgh's New Town, at what is 21 Saint David Street.

Until recently, D Hume was seen as a forerunner of logical positivism, a form of anti-metaphysical empiricism.

Therefore, D Hume crafted his own theory of causation, formed through his empiricist and sceptic beliefs.

However, D Hume says that this association cannot be trusted because the span of the human mind to comprehend the past is not necessarily applicable to the wide and distant future.

Angela Coventry writes that, for D Hume, "there is nothing in any particular instance of cause and effect involving external objects which suggests the idea of power or necessary connection" and "we are ignorant of the powers that operate between objects".

On this interpretation, D Hume is proposing a "no-self theory" and thus has much in common with Buddhist thought.

Psychologist Alison Gopnik has argued that D Hume was in a position to learn about Buddhist thought during his time in France in the 1730s.

Since practical reason is supposed to regulate our actions, D Hume denied practical reason on the grounds that reason cannot directly oppose passions.

Practical reason is concerned with the value of actions rather than the truth of propositions, so D Hume believed that reason's shortcoming of affecting morality proved that practical reason could not be authoritative for all rational beings, since morality was essential for dictating people's intentions and actions.

In "Standard of Taste", D Hume argues that no rules can be drawn up about what is a tasteful object.

Furthermore, D Hume laid down rules for educating people in taste and correct conduct, and his writings in this area have been very influential on English and Anglo-Saxon aesthetics.

Education writer Richard Wright considers that D Hume's position rejects a famous moral puzzle attributed to French philosopher Jean Buridan.

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Best theologian he ever met, he used to say, was the old Edinburgh fishwife who, having recognized him as D Hume the atheist, refused to pull him out of the bog into which he had fallen until he declared he was a Christian and repeated the Lord's prayer.

However, in works such as "Of Superstition and Enthusiasm", D Hume specifically seems to support the standard religious views of his time and place.

Additionally, when mentioning religion as a factor in his History of England, D Hume uses it to show the deleterious effect it has on human progress.

Lou Reich argues that D Hume was a religious naturalist and rejects interpretations of D Hume as an atheist.

Paul Russell writes that D Hume was plainly sceptical about religious belief, although perhaps not to the extent of complete atheism.

Philosopher Louise E Loeb notes that Hume is saying that only experience and observation can be our guide to making inferences about the conjunction between events.

Finally, D Hume discussed a version of the anthropic principle, which is the idea that theories of the universe are constrained by the need to allow for man's existence in it as an observer.

Critics have argued that D Hume's position assumes the character of miracles and natural laws prior to any specific examination of miracle claims, thus it amounts to a subtle form of begging the question.

Generally, D Hume took a moderate royalist position and considered revolution unnecessary to achieve necessary reform.

Historians have debated whether D Hume posited a universal unchanging human nature, or allowed for evolution and development.

Canadian philosopher Neil McArthur writes that D Hume believed that we should try to balance our demands for liberty with the need for strong authority, without sacrificing either.

American historian Douglass Adair has argued that D Hume was a major inspiration for James Madison's writings, and the essay "Federalist No 10" in particular.

In contrast to Locke, D Hume believes that private property is not a natural right.

Second, D Hume has a theory of causation which fits in with the Chicago-school "black box" approach.

Lastly, D Hume was a vocal advocate of a stable private sector, though having some non-monetarist aspects to his economic philosophy.