A Treatise of Human Nature
by David Hume
Assigned by 3 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1739-1740
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- English
- Length
- Long · 620 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Formidable5 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendA Treatise of Human NatureOxford University Press, 2000The Norton and Norton critical edition, with the best notes for a first reader; the Selby-Bigge and Nidditch text is the older standard.
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Hume's first and most ambitious book, an attempt to apply experimental method to the mind. Book I, Of the Understanding, derives all ideas from impressions and then dismantles our confidence in causation, external bodies and the self, which Hume describes as a bundle of perceptions with no observable owner. Book II, Of the Passions, explains pride, humility, love and hatred by association, and argues that reason alone can never move us to act. Book III, Of Morals, argues that moral distinctions are felt rather than deduced, that no ought follows from an is, and that justice is an artificial virtue built on convention.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns A Treatise of Human Nature are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
