Presents
A Treatise of Human Nature By David Hume
With an overview, summary, analysis and author biography by Israel Bouseman
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CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Author’s Bio and Background Information ................................................. 2 Overview ................................................................................................... 6
Summary ............................................................................................................... 11
Book I: Of the Understanding.................................................................... 13 Part I: Of ideas, their Origin, Composition, Connection, Abstraction, etc. ................................................................................................ 13 Part II: Of the Ideas of Space and Time ............................................................ 14 Part III: Of Knowledge and Probability ............................................................ 15 Part IV: Of the Skeptical and Other Systems of Philosophy...................... 16
Book II: Of the Passions............................................................................ 18 Part I: Of Pride and Humility ............................................................................... 18 Part II: Of Love and Hatred................................................................................... 19 Part III: Of the Will and Direct Passions .......................................................... 20
Book III: Of Morals .................................................................................. 22 Part I: Of Virtue and Vice in General ................................................................. 22 Part II: Of Justice and Injustice............................................................................ 24 Part III: Of the Other Virtues and Vices............................................................ 26
Synopsis and Analysis............................................................................... 27 Historical Context, Social Impact, and Criticisms ....................................... 32
The Complete Book............................................................................................ 37
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 39 BOOK I. OF THE UNDERSTANDING .................................................... 44 PART I. OF IDEAS, THEIR ORIGIN, COMPOSITION, CONNEXION, ABSTRACTION, ETC......................................................................................... 44
SECT. I. OF THE ORIGIN OF OUR IDEAS....................................................... 44 SECT. II. DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT............................................................. 49 SECT. III. OF THE IDEAS OF THE MEMORY AND IMAGINATION ................................................................................................... 49 SECT. IV. OF THE CONNEXION OR ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS ............... 51 SECT. V. OF RELATIONS..................................................................................... 53 SECT. VI. OF MODES AND SUBSTANCES...................................................... 55 SECT. VII. OF ABSTRACT IDEAS...................................................................... 56 iii
PART II. OF THE IDEAS OF SPACE AND TIME............................................... 64
SECT. I. OF THE INFINITE DIVISIBILITY OF OUR IDEAS OF SPACE AND TIME ............................................................................................. 64 SECT. II. OF THE INFINITE DIVISIBILITY OF SPACE AND TIME ......... 66 SECT. III. OF THE OTHER QUALITIES OF OUR IDEA OF SPACE AND TIME............................................................................................................ 69 SECT. IV. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED............................................................... 74 SECT. V. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED................................................. 86 SECT. VI. OF THE IDEA OF EXISTENCE, AND OF EXTERNAL EXISTENCE ......................................................................................................... 96
PART III. OF KNOWLEDGE AND PROBABILITY............................................ 98
SECT. I. OF KNOWLEDGE .................................................................................. 98 SECT. II. OF PROBABILITY, AND OF THE IDEA OF CAUSE AND EFFECT...............................................................................................................101 SECT. III. WHY A CAUSE IS ALWAYS NECESSARY..................................105 SECT. IV. OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF OUR REASONINGS CONCERNING CAUSE AND EFFECT .........................................................108 SECT. V. OF THE IMPRESSIONS OF THE SENSES AND MEMORY............................................................................................................109 SECT. VI. OF THE INFERENCE FROM THE IMPRESSION TO THE IDEA...........................................................................................................112 SECT. VII. OF THE NATURE OF THE IDEA OR BELIEF. .........................118 SECT. VIII. OF THE CAUSES OF BELIEF. .....................................................122 SECT. IX. OF THE EFFECTS OF OTHER RELATIONS AND OTHER HABITS. ..............................................................................................130 SECT. X. OF THE INFLUENCE OF BELIEF. .................................................139 SECT. XI. OF THE PROBABILITY OF CHANCES. .......................................145 SECT. XII. OF THE PROBABILITY OF CAUSES. .........................................150 SECT. XIII. OF UNPHILOSOPHICAL PROBABILITY.................................159 SECT. XIV. OF THE IDEA OF NECESSARY CONNEXION. .......................169 SECT. XV. RULES BY WHICH TO JUDGE OF CAUSES AND EFFECTS. ...........................................................................................................184 SECT. XVI OF THE REASON OF ANIMALS..................................................186
PART IV. OF THE SCEPTICAL AND OTHER SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY....................................................................................................189
SECT. I. OF SCEPTICISM WITH REGARD TO REASON...........................189 SECT. II. OF SCEPTICISM WITH REGARD TO THE SENSES. ................194 SECT. III. OF THE ANTIENT PHILOSOPHY. ...............................................219 SECT. IV. OF THE MODERN PHILOSOPHY.................................................223 SECT. V. OF THE IMMATERIALITY OF THE SOUL. .................................228 SECT. VI. OF PERSONAL IDENTITY .............................................................243 SECT. VII. CONCLUSION OF THIS BOOK. ...................................................253
BOOK II OF THE PASSIONS ................................................................ 262
PART I OF PRIDE AND HUMILITY ...................................................................262 iv
SECT. I DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT .............................................................262 SECT. II OF PRIDE AND HUMILITY, THEIR OBJECTS AND CAUSES...............................................................................................................263 SECT. III WHENCE THESE OBJECTS AND CAUSES ARE DERIVED............................................................................................................265 SECT. IV OF THE RELATIONS OF IMPRESSIONS AND IDEAS ............267 SECT. V OF THE INFLUENCE OF THESE RELATIONS ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY. ................................................................................269 SECT. VI LIMITATIONS OF THIS SYSTEM .................................................273 SECT. VII OF VICE AND VIRTUE....................................................................277 SECT. VIII OF BEAUTY AND DEFORMITY..................................................279 SECT. IX OF EXTERNAL ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES .......283 SECT. X OF PROPERTY AND RICHES...........................................................288 SECT. XI OF THE LOVE OF FAME..................................................................293 SECT. XII OF THE PRIDE AND HUMILITY OF ANIMALS.......................300
PART II OF LOVE AND HATRED .......................................................................304
SECT. I OF THE OBJECT AND CAUSES OF LOVE AND HATRED.........304 SECT. II EXPERIMENTS TO CONFIRM THIS SYSTEM............................306 SECT. III DIFFICULTIES SOLVED ..................................................................318 SECT. IV OF THE LOVE OF RELATIONS......................................................321 SECT. V OF OUR ESTEEM FOR THE RICH AND POWERFUL...............326 SECT. VI OF BENEVOLENCE AND ANGER .................................................332 SECT. VII OF COMPASSION .............................................................................334 SECT. VIII OF MALICE AND ENVY ................................................................337 SECT. IX OF THE MIXTURE OF BENEVOLENCE AND ANGER WITH COMPASSION AND MALICE ...........................................................344 SECT. X OF RESPECT AND CONTEMPT ......................................................351 SECT. XI OF THE AMOROUS PASSION, OR LOVE BETWIXT THE SEXES ........................................................................................................354 SECT. XII OF THE LOVE AND HATRED OF ANIMALS ............................356
PART III OF THE WILL AND DIRECT PASSIONS.........................................359 SECT. I OF LIBERTY AND NECESSITY.........................................................359 SECT. II THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUed ................................................365 SECT. III OF THE INFLUENCING MOTIVES OF THE WILL...................369 SECT. IV OF THE CAUSES OF THE VIOLENT PASSIONS .......................373 SECT. V OF THE EFFECTS OF CUSTOM ......................................................376 SECT. VI OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE IMAGINATION ON THE PASSIONS ..........................................................................................................378 SECT. VII OF CONTIGUITY AND DISTANCE IN SPACE AND TIME....................................................................................................................380 SECT. VIII THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUed............................................384 SECT. IX OF THE DIRECT PASSIONS ...........................................................389 SECT. X OF CURIOSITY, OR THE LOVE OF TRUTH .................................397
BOOK III OF MORALS ......................................................................... 402
PART I OF VIRTUE AND VICE IN GENERAL .................................................402 v
SECT. I MORAL DISTINCTIONS NOT DERIVed FROM REASON.........402 SECT. II MORAL DISTINCTIONS DERIVed FROM A MORAL SENSE .................................................................................................................414
PART II OF JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE ..............................................................420
SECT. I JUSTICE, WHETHER A NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL VIRTUE?.............................................................................................................420 SECT. II OF THE ORIGIN OF JUSTICE AND PROPERTY.........................425 SECT. III OF THE RULES WHICH DETERMINE PROPERTY.................439 SECT. IV OF THE TRANSFERENCE OF PROPERTY BY CONSENT...........................................................................................................452 SECT. V OF THE OBLIGATION OF PROMISES ..........................................453 SECT. VI SOME FARTHER REFLECTIONS CONCERNING JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE..............................................................................461 SECT. VII OF THE ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT ..........................................467 SECT. VIII OF THE SOURCE OF ALLEGIANCE ..........................................471 SECT. IX OF THE MEASURES OF ALLEGIANCE .......................................479 SECT. X OF THE OBJECTS OF ALLEGIANCE ..............................................482 SECT. XI OF THE LAWS OF NATIONS..........................................................493 SECT. XII OF CHASTITY AND MODESTY ....................................................495
PART III OF THE OTHER VIRTUES AND VICES ...........................................499
SECT. I OF THE ORIGIN OF THE NATURAL VIRTUES AND VICES...................................................................................................................499 SECT. II OF GREATNESS OF MIND ...............................................................513 SECT. III OF GOODNESS AND BENEVOLENCE.........................................521 SECT. IV OF NATURAL ABILITIES ................................................................524 SECT. V SOME FARTHER REFLECTIONS CONCERNING THE NATURAL VIRTUES .......................................................................................530 SECT. VI CONCLUSION OF THIS BOOK .......................................................533
APPENDIX ............................................................................................ 536
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INTRODUCTION A Treatise of Human Nature is the first work ever published by David Hume, a man who revolutionized our understanding of philosophy. Hume was an advocate of the skeptical school of philosophy and a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He looks at the nature of human experience and cognition, showing that philosophy and reason can only be reflections of our nature. The naturalistic science of man that Hume expresses in this work forms the foundation for all later philosophical inquiry. Kant gave Hume credit for “awakening [him] from his dogmatic slumber.” With this influence alone, Hume initiated the clearest critique of reason that Western civilization has produced in the history of philosophy.
Hume’s wok formed the psychological foundation for modern psychology. He showed the limits and proper application of reason in human life. He also examined the passions and morality, showing how they arise in human experience, and how they are connected to both reason and action. In essence, A Treatise of Human Understanding is a thorough, well considered, and inspired examination of human psychology and the implications that the structure of our thought and experience has on our knowledge. The full narration of Hume’s text is preceded by a summary, which includes a biography, background information on the work, and an overview of the material covered. The summary also includes a synopsis and analysis of the text, as well as an examination of its historical context, its social impact, and the criticisms it evoked. This work is suitable for students of philosophy, psychology, or for anyone interested in coming to a deeper understanding of the nature of the mind.
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AUTHOR’S BIO AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION David Hume (1711-1776) was one of the most influential British philosophers during the Eighteenth Century. He was a Scottish philosopher, historian, essayist, and economist. He was born with the name of David Home in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Joseph Home and Katherine Falconer. Hume anglicized the spelling of his family name in 1734 to reduce confusion about pronunciation.
Hume entered the University of Edinburgh at an unusually young age. At a time when most entered the university at the age of fourteen, Hume enrolled at either ten or twelve years old. Initially, he had considered a career in law, but he soon became entranced with philosophy and general learning. He began to devour literature from poets and philosophers from centuries past. Hume’s love of literature was well known during his lifetime. He was once quoted saying that there is nothing one can learn from a professor that they could not learn more completely from a book.
While studying at the University of Edinburgh, Hume had an inspiration that led him to dedicate his life fully to reading and writing. He decided to spend ten years placing the entirety of his energy into this pursuit. Hume was so single-minded in this task that he drove himself to the brink of a nervous breakdown. After this episode, he came to the belief that leading a more active life was conducive to his learning and development. Upon the completion of his education, Hume entered the career of merchant. He first spent some months working in the field of commerce in Bristol. In 1734, he travelled to Anjou, France to take up a post at La Fleche. Hume spent his time in Anjou writing his Treatise of Human Nature and discussing philosophy with the Jesuits of the College of La Fleche. This continued for four years, during which time he spent the bulk of his savings. Hume’s dwindling resources forced him to adopt a life of frugality; he was determined to let nothing stand in the way of his pursuit of literary and philosophical excellence.
Hume completed A Treatise of Human Understanding in the early part of 1738, at the age of 26. Before he had reached thirty years of age, he wrote a book that is considered by modern philosophical scholars to be one of the most important works in Western philosophy. 2
Unfortunately, contemporary critics in England did not share this opinion. They found the work to be “abstract and unintelligible.” Hume recovered quickly from this blow to his confidence, dedicating his time to continuing his studies and writing his next piece, an Abstract on his previous work. He wrote the abstract in an attempt to make his treatise more intelligible to the public and to increase its popularity.
Despite his historical recognition, Hume received very little positive acknowledgement from those of his own era. He applied for the post of Chair of Pneumatics and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in 1744, however rumors of his atheism caused the ministers of Edinburgh petitioned town hall against him. In later years, he applied for chair of philosophy at the University of Glasgow and was once again denied. Furthermore, Hume was nearly brought up on charges of heresy, though his friends were able to avert the hearing. He demonstrated obstinacy about the entire matter, claiming that he could not even be forced to appear at the hearing, as he was not a member of the established church.
For nearly a year in 1745, during the Jacobite Rebellion, Hume tutored the Marquis of Annandale, a man with a reputation for having been a lunatic. While this position was short-lived, it marked the point at which he began work on The History of England. This work occupied six volumes and took fifteen years to complete. It marked the turning point in Hume’s reputation, as he began to receive acclaim for the depth and thoroughness of his work as a historian.
Hume was active in a number of other endeavors during the writing of The History of England. From 1746 to 1749, he served as secretary to Lieutenant-General St. Clair. During this time, he wrote a collection of philosophical essays on human understanding, later published as An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. In 1752, Hume began serving as a librarian for the Faculty of Advocates, a position that gave him a huge wealth of resources to continue his historical studies. In this same year, Hume published Political Discourses, the first of his works that was successful upon first publishing. Between 1754 and 1762, when the six volumes of Hume’s History of England were being published, he worked alongside his friend John Home on projects with the Canongate Theater.
Hume’s history was significant in a number of respects. It covered the events in England from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the 3
Revolution of 1688. This was a broad and deep scope of time to cover. Hume was inspired by Voltaire’s view of the scope of history itself, but he felt in necessary to extend the account of history beyond the political and military arenas. For the first time, history was expanded to include developments in literature and science, a historical model that has persisted to the present day. He viewed the development of civilization in light of the expansion of liberty, seeing England as the most developed expression of liberty in the rise of human civilization. The History of England was a bestseller during its time and remained influential for the next century. By 1894, there were more than fifty editions in print and an abridgement titled The Student’s Hume, initially printed in 1852 and reprinted numerous times afterwards.
Hume served as secretary to Lord Hertford in Paris from 1763 to 1765. He met James Jacques Rousseau during this period. Later, in 1767, he served as Undersecretary of State for the Northern Department. In the next year, he moved to Edinburgh settling once again in the same town in which he was born. He remained in Edinburgh until his death of abdominal cancer in 1776.
The theme that ran through all of Hume’s work was the influence of human nature on history, philosophy, and the entire scope of understanding. He recognized that all sciences were related to human nature, to greater or lesser degree. This essentially gives the science of man the highest priority, as all other sciences depend upon it. Furthermore, he felt that observation and experience are the foundation of all logical argument and solid understanding. He is therefore classified as an empiricist. He believed that all certain knowledge is based on experience, but that we have the capacity to form conceptions and beliefs that extend beyond experience. Therefore, he viewed claims to knowledge on the basis of faith or custom with skepticism.
Hume was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He brought the problem of causality to the center of philosophical debates. Since Descartes and his radical break from faith based theological philosophy, Western philosophers had tended to a rationalistic view of the human experience. This perspective emphasizes the importance of ideas in the acquisition of knowledge and understanding. The senses were recognized as flawed and capable of error. However, Hume showed that all ideas come initially from impressions received through the vehicle of the senses. As a result of 4
Hume’s influence, philosophers began to seek certain and unquestionable knowledge through the realm of sense experience.
Hume recognized that all knowledge and understanding we possess comes first from the senses. He argued that there is no knowledge that can stand above and beyond sense experience. Because of this, any sound philosophical inquiry must be based upon experience itself. Taking this premise further, he recognized that certain ideas that we commonly possess, such as those of space and causality, cannot be proved by the senses themselves. He believed that these conceptions are illusions of thought rather than aspects of actual experience. These conclusions were first expressed in his Treatise on Human Understanding, and formed the foundations of all of the work which followed.
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OVERVIEW A Treatise of Human Understanding was first published in 1738. Hume divided the book into three parts. The first book discussed the nature and mechanism of understanding. In it, Hume explores thought, the foundation of belief, and the place of skepticism. The second book focuses on the passions, investigating the mechanism and function of both emotion and free will. The third book is centered on morality. In this section, Hume examines the roots of the moral impulse and the nature of moral ideas such as justice, obligations and benevolence.
Hume enters the work with an argument for the validity of empiricism. He begins with the premise that all knowledge is based upon sense experience. He then demonstrates that all complex ideas are formed from simple ideas, and that all simple ideas enter into the consciousness through the vehicle of sense impressions. This line of reason equates ideas with experiences and subjects them both to the same measures of verification and validation.
Another key piece to Hume’s argument is his definition of “matters of fact.” Hume describes matters of fact as aspects of understanding that must be experienced. Reason and instinct are, by this definition, unable to provide us with factual validation. This is the foundation that allows Hume to critically examine metaphysical systems and concepts. The God concept and beliefs related to the soul are beyond sense experience and verification. Therefore, they are meaningless questions in epistemological terms. We do not have the capacity to evaluate the in the light of experience.
Hume next uses the empiricist definition of fact to investigate the nature of the concepts of space, time and mathematics. In essence, we have no direct experience of space, but rather only of objects we encounter. None of these objects has a quality which can be defined as space. Similarly, we have no direct experience of time. We only recognize and form impressions of events we experience. Each of these concepts, therefore, is an illusion of reason. We cannot rest upon it if we are seeking sure and certain knowledge. Hume examines mathematics from the angle of infinite divisibility. He shows that while in mathematical terms there is no limit to the extent to which we are able to divide numbers, at a certain point in the division, the parts become so small that we are unable to 6
experience them directly. Therefore, the idea of infinite divisibility, extending beyond the realm of experiential knowledge, becomes meaningless in direct terms. Hume shows that this is the case with many mathematical principles. However, though mathematics itself is beyond experience, it is a system that affords consistent and certain knowledge within the realm of logic. Within the realm of mathematics, and disconnected from the need for experience as a form of validation, mathematics does offer the capacity for perfect certainty.
Hume introduces the tools of logic which he employs in his analysis of thought. The first of these tools is the microscope. The microscope is Hume’s name for the process of breaking an idea into the various simple ideas of which it is composed. If any of these simple ideas is still difficult to understand, it is then isolate and the impressions which led to it are reenacted. It is at this point that Hume’s second logical tool comes into play. This tool, the razor, essentially cuts off all terms or qualities that cannot be proven to arise from the simple components of the whole concept. The razor establishes certain terms as beyond the bounds of logic and therefore meaningless. Although Hume establishes metaphysical and conceptual terms as logically meaningless, this is not to say that he finds abstract concepts worthless. Hume believes that the human mind naturally forms associations between impressions that are similar in the framework of space or time. He argues that these associations are the foundation of our capacity to form general expectations and principles. They are abstractions from specific instances that allow us to visualize things we have not experienced by association with things that we have.
The final tool of Hume’s logical analysis is the fork, the capacity to divide truths into various kinds. The first level at which this tool is used is the division of truths based on the relation of ideas from those based on fact. Truths based on the relation of ideas are necessary truths; they are proven once and remained proven for all time. Mathematics is an entire system based upon these necessary truths. Truths based on fact are those that concern the outside world. They are the “matters of fact” which are experienced in external reality.
Hume next turns his attention to the passions, the realm of emotions and will. In order to properly describe the nature of the passions, Hume first shows the difference between primary and secondary 7
impressions. He describes primary impressions as those that arise directly from sense experience. Secondary impressions, on the other hand, arise internally but have their roots in an original sense experience. They are an outgrowth of primary impressions.
Hume first classifies passions as secondary impressions and next divides the passions into two categories: direct and indirect. Direct passions include desire, aversion, grief, joy, hope, despair, security, and fear. Indirect passions include pride and humility, envy and generosity, malice and pity, love and hatred. Direct passions arise from an immediate association with pain or pleasure. Indirect passions are developed in the same fashion, but require the inclusion of additional qualities in order to be established. Hume then investigates the roots and objects of each of these passions.
Hume recognizes the place of reason in understanding by noticing that moral decisions influence one’s actions while decisions made on the basis of reason alone do not. Therefore, morality is not based upon reason. Furthermore, any recognition of cause and effect stems from a belief we hold about the connections between events and objects we experience. In addition, this belief only has the capacity to influence our behavior if it connects with a sense of personal interest. Personal interest is derived, directly or indirectly, from the pain or pleasure we can anticipate associated with the experience. Therefore, our reasoning o the connections between things in our experience are not motivating factors. Instead, we are motivated by pleasure and pain. Passions are the driving force in human thought and action, and the proper and only place of reason in our thought is to serve the passions. Using the platform he has thus established, Hume moves into a discussion of morality. He has shown that humanity is motivated by passions rather than by reason. He has shown, as well, that the passions are the forces in human understanding that move one towards pleasure and away from pain. In extending into the arena of morality, he shows that virtue is our impression of actions that will move towards the pleasure side of the scale, which vice is our impression of actions that will push us towards pain. Hume stresses that these moral distinctions are impression rather than constructed ideas, and that these impressions arise solely in consideration of human actions and only within the social framework. Animals are exempt from a moral consideration, and our morality is based not only upon how our actions will affect us, but 8
the impact they will have upon the whole of society. This leads to a discussion of sympathy as the driving force of morality. Hume recognizes sympathy as the foundation of the moral obligation.
Hume goes on to elaborate further upon his classification of morality as an impression arising from the passions. He demonstrates that we have no direct experience of the moral impulse. Instead, we receive an internal impression when considering an action which we deem to be immoral. The quality of immorality or vice is not defined by an idea but by an impression. This verifies his placement of morality amongst the aspects of understanding at which we arrive through sentiment rather than reason. Reason can only help us to understand morality. It is not the element of understanding that produces the moral impulse, but rather that of passion.
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