Product Description

One of the most significant works of Western philosophy, Hume’s Treatise was published in 1739–40, before he was thirty years old. A pinnacle of English empiricism, it is a comprehensive attempt to apply scientific methods of observation to a study of human nature, and a vigorous attack upon the principles of traditional metaphysical thought. With masterly eloquence, Hume denies the immortality of the soul and the reality of space; considers the manner in which we form concepts of identity, cause and effect; and speculates upon the nature of freedom, virtue and emotion. Opposed both to metaphysics and to rationalism, Hume’s philosophy of informed scepticism sees man not as a religious creation, nor as a machine, but as a creature dominated by sentiment, passion and appetite.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62227 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

About the Author
David hume (1711-76) devoted himself from early youth to 'philosophy and great learning'. A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40) was not well received on publication, but is now viewed as his masterpiece. Ernest Campbell Mossner is the author of many books on Hume. He has received fellowships from Columbia, Guggenheim and Fulbright, and has held the post of Professor of English and Philosophy at the University of Texas.

Customer Reviews

The fuse of a great revolution in Philosophy.
The german philosopher Kant used to say that was David Hume who had waked him up from the sleep of the dogmatic metaphysics. Nowhere but in this book we can feel such a force, increased by the vigour of the youth. In the peak of a english tradition in empirism, with origins in William of Ockham, Hume attacks in his Treatise each one of the fundamentals thesis of the traditional metaphysiscs: he denies the immortality of the soul, the certainty of a external world, the reality of the space, the existence of substances and (that's his most famous insight) the necessity of the law of causality. All these remarks will prepare the soil to the great revolution of Kant as well as the epistemology of Sir Karl Popper.

Being a fuss-pot
Having only ordered this work, I cannot contribute an opinion of quality or content. Sad as I am, this will comprise part of my holiday reading. My contention is that the work is described as a major contribution to the tome of English philosophy. Most will be aware of it as the major work of the nascent Scottish Enlightenment.

Sorry to be so pernickety.