The life of David Hume
This year marks the 300th birthday of perhaps the most important philosopher to ever write in English. David Hume was born on May 7, 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland, a city of intellectual ferment.
Listen now, read the transcript Wednesday
A conversation with Roderick Graham, Hume’s most recent biographer, about how a boy brought up in rural Scotland became a major figure in European thought
Generally regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, David Hume (1711-1776) — the last of the great triumvirate of “British empiricists” — was also noted as an historian and essayist. A master stylist in any genre, Hume’s major philosophical works — A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-1740), the Enquiries concerning Human Understanding (1748) and concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), as well as the posthumously published Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) — remain widely and deeply influential, despite their being denounced by many of his contemporaries as works of scepticism and atheism. While Hume’s influence is evident in the moral philosophy and economic writings of his close friend Adam Smith, he also awakened Immanuel Kant from his “dogmatic slumbers” and “caused the scales to fall” from Jeremy Bentham’s eyes. Charles Darwin counted Hume as a central influence, as did “Darwin’s bulldog,” Thomas Henry Huxley. The diverse directions in which these writers took what they gleaned from reading Hume reflect not only the richness of their sources but also the wide range of Hume’s empiricism. Comtemporary philosophers recognize Hume as one of the most thoroughgoing exponents of philosophical naturalism.
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