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A Treatise of Human Nature

by David Hume (1711–1776)

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  • 15 hours to read
  • 13 chapters
  • Reading level: College-level

"A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume is a philosophical work published between 1739-40. Inspired by Newton's scientific achievements, Hume seeks to apply experimental methods to human psychology. He argues that passions, not reason, drive human behavior and that our beliefs about cause and effect rest on habit rather than logic. Hume presents the famous problem of induction, defends sentiment-based morality, and controversially declares that "reason is, and ought only to be the slave to the passions." This foundational text challenges rationalist philosophy through empirical investigation.

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  • Knowledge, Theory of

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Part III of the Other Virtues and Vices

APPENDIX TO THE TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE

VOL. I OF THE UNDERSTANDING.

ADVERTISEMENT.

My design in the present work is sufficiently explained in the Introduction. The reader must only observe, that all the subjects I have there planned out to myself, are not treated of in these two volumes. The subjects of the Understanding and Passions make a compleat chain of reasoning by themselves; and I was willing to take advantage of this natural division, in order to try the taste of the public. If I have the good fortune to meet with success, I shall proceed to the examination of Morals, Politics, and Criticism; which will compleat this Treatise of Human Nature. The approbation of the public I consider as the greatest reward of my labours; but am determined to regard its judgment, whatever it be, as my best instruction.

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Contents

  1. Part III of the Other Virtues and Vices
  2. Introduction
  3. Part I: Of Ideas, Their Origin, Composition, Connexion, Abstraction: Etc
  4. Part II: Of the Ideas of Space and Time: Sect. I. Of the Infinite Divisibility of Our Ideas of Space and Time
  5. Part III: Of Knowledge and Probability
  6. Part IV: Of the Sceptical and Other Systems of Philosophy
  7. Part I of Pride and Humility
  8. Part II of Love and Hatred
  9. Part III of the Will and Direct Passions
  10. Part I of Virtue and Vice in General
  11. Part II of Justice and Injustice
  12. Part III of the Other Virtues and Vices
  13. Appendix

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About this edition

This free edition of A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #4705, released 2003-12-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Philosophy & Ethics.

Other editions: eBook #62856.

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