David Hume
Enlightenment skeptic philosopher
David Hume was an 18th-century Scottish philosopher whose skeptical empiricism shaped modern thought.
He argued that knowledge derives from experience, not reason alone, and that we cannot prove causation—only observe patterns.
His work influenced economics, psychology, and the problem of induction.
Hume's fork distinguishes matters of fact from relations of ideas.
Reality beyond one's consciousness
- personal identityOne's defining characteristics
- selfOne's own being
- substancePhysical material with mass
- doubtLack of firm belief
custom · belief · certainty · reason · understanding · epistemological · common life
Scotland's seat of government
- Adam SmithClassical economics founder
- literatiEducated, cultured class
- historianExpert on past events
- essaysShort nonfiction prose pieces
moderate · sociability · commerce · civilization · politeness · improvement · Tory · public intellectual
Effects on the mind
- ideasMental creations or plans
- experiencePractical knowledge from life
- perceptionMental interpretation of stimuli
- sensationPerceived stimulus or phenomenon
observation · simple ideas · complex ideas · memory · imagination · vivacity · force · matters of fact
How events produce results
- inductionFormal admission process
- contiguityState of touching directly
- successionFollowing in order
- regularityConsistent, predictable occurrence
inference · association · habit · custom · expectation · counterfactual · impressions · matters of fact
Compassionate understanding of others
- benevolenceDisposition toward doing good
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- viceBad habit or deputy
- approbationFormal expression of approval
disapprobation · passion · utility · character · justice · spectator · convention · pride
Supernatural extraordinary events
- dialoguesExchanges between speakers
- providenceDivine protective care
- immortalityExemption from death
- soulInnermost animating essence
superstition · enthusiasm · polytheism · deism · evil · testimony · credulity · religious belief
external world
Reality beyond one's consciousness
- personal identityOne's defining characteristics
- selfOne's own being
- substancePhysical material with mass
doubt · custom · belief · certainty · reason · understanding · epistemological · common life
Edinburgh
Scotland's seat of government
- Adam SmithClassical economics founder
- literatiEducated, cultured class
- historianExpert on past events
essays · moderate · sociability · commerce · civilization · politeness · improvement · Tory · public intellectual · salon
impressions
Effects on the mind
- ideasMental creations or plans
- experiencePractical knowledge from life
- perceptionMental interpretation of stimuli
sensation · observation · simple ideas · complex ideas · memory · imagination · vivacity · force · matters of fact
cause and effect
How events produce results
- inductionFormal admission process
- contiguityState of touching directly
- successionFollowing in order
regularity · inference · association · habit · custom · expectation · counterfactual · impressions · matters of fact
sympathy
Compassionate understanding of others
- benevolenceDisposition toward doing good
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- viceBad habit or deputy
approbation · disapprobation · passion · utility · character · justice · spectator · convention · pride · humility
miracles
Supernatural extraordinary events
- dialoguesExchanges between speakers
- providenceDivine protective care
- immortalityExemption from death
soul · superstition · enthusiasm · polytheism · deism · evil · testimony · credulity · religious belief
- moral philosophymoral philosophy, moral judgment, moral reasoning, moral principles, moral conduct
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
- 1700s WritersAlexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Samuel Richardson, Daniel Defoe
- British PhilosophyJohn Locke, Bertrand Russell, George Berkeley, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes
- British ThinkersBertrand Russell, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Francis Bacon, John Stuart Mill
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Montesquieu
David HumeRené Descartes
rationalism · Plato · a priori knowledge · Immanuel Kant · mathematical reasoning