David Hume
For Hume, we never see one thing cause another, only one following another; the self is just a bundle of experiences; and reason serves our feelings.
Placement
Radical empiricist: causality is habit, the self a bundle of perceptions, reason the slave of the passions.
Key ideas
- Critique of causality
- Problem of induction
- Is–ought distinction
- Bundle theory of the self
Influence
Influenced by 8
Cicero
influenced by
Hume told Hutcheson (1739) he meant to take his catalogue of virtues from Cicero’s Offices; his Dialogues concerning Natural Religion follow Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods. D. Hume to F. Hutcheson, 17 Sept. 1739, in Letters, ed. J. Y. T. Greig (1932); Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779); SEP “Hume on Religion”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Cicero › 106–43 BCE
Thomas Hobbes
influenced by
Paul Russell (1985) argued that the scope and plan of Hume’s Treatise (1739–40) were modelled on Hobbes’ Elements of Law (1640); the thesis is debated. P. Russell, “Hume’s Treatise and Hobbes’s The Elements of Law”, Journal of the History of Ideas 46 (1985); The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise (2008)
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Thomas Hobbes › 1588–1679
Nicolas Malebranche
influenced by
Hume took Malebranche’s argument that no necessary connection between finite causes and effects is perceived, but rejected his conclusion that God is the only true cause (Treatise, 1739). D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), “Of the idea of necessary connexion”; An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748); SEP “David Hume”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Nicolas Malebranche › 1638–1715
Isaac Newton
influenced by ✓
Hume subtitled his Treatise (1739) ‘an attempt to introduce the experimental method of reasoning into moral subjects’, modelling his science of man on Newton’s natural philosophy. D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), title page; SEP “David Hume”
Isaac Newton › 1643–1727
George Berkeley
influenced by ✓
Hume adopted Berkeley’s account of abstract ideas as particular ideas that stand for others, praising it as a ‘valuable discovery’ (Treatise, 1739). D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), “Of abstract ideas”; G. Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge (1710), Introduction; SEP “David Hume”
George Berkeley › 1685–1753
Francis Hutcheson
influenced by ✓
Hume grounded the morals of Treatise Book III (1740) in a moral sense, following Hutcheson, and discussed the manuscript with him in letters of 1739–40. D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III (1740), “Moral distinctions deriv’d from a moral sense”; letters to F. Hutcheson (1739–40), in Letters, ed. J. Y. T. Greig (1932); SEP “Francis Hutcheson”
Francis Hutcheson › 1694–1746
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Pierre Bayle
influenced by
In the Treatise (1739) Hume used Bayle’s Dictionary article ‘Spinoza’ to turn the charge of atheism back on the theologians’ doctrine of an immaterial soul. D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), “Of the immateriality of the soul”; P. Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique (1697), “Spinoza”; SEP “Pierre Bayle”
Evidence: AI draft
Pierre Bayle › 1647–1706
Bernard Mandeville
influenced by
Introducing the Treatise (1739), Hume named Mandeville, with Locke, Shaftesbury, Hutcheson and Butler, among those who began to put the science of man on a new footing. D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Introduction; SEP “Bernard Mandeville”
Evidence: AI draft
Bernard Mandeville › 1670–1733
Influenced 17
Adam Smith
influenced
Smith developed Hume’s account of sympathy into the theory of moral judgement of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), denying that utility is the first source of approval. A. Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), Part IV; D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40); SEP “Adam Smith’s Moral and Political Philosophy”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Adam Smith › 1723–1790
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi
influenced ✓
In David Hume on Faith, or Idealism and Realism (1787) Jacobi took over Hume’s ‘belief’ as his own term for the immediate certainty of external things. F. H. Jacobi, David Hume über den Glauben, oder Idealismus und Realismus (1787); SEP “Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi › 1743–1819
Jeremy Bentham
influenced
On reading Hume’s Treatise, Bentham felt ‘as if scales had fallen’ from his eyes: utility was the test of virtue (A Fragment on Government, 1776). J. Bentham, A Fragment on Government (1776); D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III (1740); SEP “Jeremy Bentham”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Jeremy Bentham › 1748–1832
Auguste Comte
influenced
Comte’s restriction of science to laws of phenomena, renouncing the search for causes, is commonly traced to Hume’s critique of causation (Cours de philosophie positive, 1830–42). A. Comte, Cours de philosophie positive (1830–42); M. Pickering, Auguste Comte: An Intellectual Biography, vol. I (1993); SEP “Auguste Comte”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Auguste Comte › 1798–1857
Bertrand Russell
influenced ✓
Russell restated Hume’s problem of induction, holding that the inductive principle can be neither proved nor disproved by experience (The Problems of Philosophy, 1912). B. Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (1912), “On Induction”; A History of Western Philosophy (1945); SEP “Bertrand Russell”
Bertrand Russell › 1872–1970
Karl Popper
influenced
Popper accepted Hume’s argument that induction cannot be logically justified but rejected his psychology of habit, replacing induction with conjecture and falsification (Objective Knowledge, 1972). K. R. Popper, Logik der Forschung (1934); Objective Knowledge (1972), “Conjectural Knowledge: My Solution of the Problem of Induction”; SEP “Karl Popper”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Karl Popper › 1902–1994
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John Millar
influenced
Millar, who met Hume at Lord Kames’ house and later taught his nephew, was by John Craig’s account ‘convinced of the truth’ of Hume’s metaphysical opinions. J. Craig, “Account of the Life and Writings of John Millar”, in J. Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks (4th ed., 1806)
Evidence: AI draft
John Millar › 1735–1801
Alexius Meinong
influenced
Meinong’s first works, Hume-Studien I (1877) on abstraction and nominalism and II (1882) on relations, began from Hume’s theory and prepared his own theory of relations. A. Meinong, Hume-Studien I: Zur Geschichte und Kritik des modernen Nominalismus (1877); Hume-Studien II: Zur Relationstheorie (1882); SEP “Alexius Meinong”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Alexius Meinong › 1853–1920
Edvard Westermarck
influenced
Westermarck placed his theory that moral judgements express disinterested emotions of approval and disapproval in Hume’s tradition, naming Hume a forerunner (Ethical Relativity, 1932). E. Westermarck, Ethical Relativity (1932); The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (1906–08); T. Stroup, Westermarck’s Ethics (1982); SEP “Hume’s Moral Philosophy”
Evidence: AI draft
Edvard Westermarck › 1862–1939
Albert Einstein
influenced ✓
Einstein said that reading Hume’s critique of concepts, with Mach, helped him question absolute simultaneity in special relativity (letter to Schlick, 1915; Autobiographical Notes, 1949). A. Einstein, “Autobiographical Notes”, in P. A. Schilpp (ed.), Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (1949); Einstein to M. Schlick, 14 Dec. 1915; SEP “Einstein’s Philosophy of Science”
Albert Einstein › 1879–1955
A. J. Ayer
influenced
Ayer modelled his split of analytic and empirical propositions on Hume’s relations of ideas and matters of fact, quoting his ‘commit it then to the flames’ (1936). A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic (1936); Hume (1980); D. Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748); SEP “Alfred Jules Ayer”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
A. J. Ayer › 1910–1989
P. F. Strawson
influenced
Strawson took from Hume a naturalist answer to scepticism: belief in bodies and induction are inescapable natural commitments that neither need nor admit justification (Skepticism and Naturalism, 1985). P. F. Strawson, Skepticism and Naturalism: Some Varieties (1985); SEP “Peter Frederick Strawson”
Evidence: AI draft
P. F. Strawson › 1919–2006
John Rawls
influenced
Rawls took the circumstances of justice – moderate scarcity and limited altruism – from Hume as the conditions under which justice is needed (A Theory of Justice, 1971). J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971); D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature III (1740); An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751)
Evidence: AI draft
John Rawls › 1921–2002
Gilles Deleuze
influenced ✓
In Empiricism and Subjectivity (1953) Deleuze read Hume as showing how a subject is constituted within the given through habit and association, and stressed his externality of relations. G. Deleuze, Empirisme et subjectivité (1953); SEP “Gilles Deleuze”; SEP “David Hume”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Gilles Deleuze › 1925–1995
Saul Kripke
influenced ✓
Kripke modelled the ‘sceptical solution’ he ascribed to Wittgenstein on Hume’s treatment of causation: a sceptical paradox about meaning is answered by community practice, not facts (1982). S. A. Kripke, Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language (1982); D. Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748); SEP “Rule-Following and Intentionality”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Saul Kripke › 1940–2022
David Lewis
influenced
Lewis named his thesis of ‘Humean supervenience’ after Hume, the denier of necessary connections: everything supervenes on the local distribution of particular qualities (Philosophical Papers II, 1986). D. Lewis, Philosophical Papers, vol. II (1986), introduction; “Humean Supervenience Debugged”, Mind 103 (1994); SEP “David Lewis”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
David Lewis › 1941–2001
Derek Parfit
influenced
Parfit’s reductionism about persons – identity is psychological and physical continuity, no further fact – is commonly compared with Hume’s bundle view (Reasons and Persons, 1984). D. Parfit, Reasons and Persons (1984); D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40), “Of personal identity”; SEP “Personal Identity”
Evidence: AI draft
Derek Parfit › 1942–2017
Criticism
Criticized by 5
Thomas Reid
criticised by
Reid argued that Hume’s scepticism follows from the theory of ideas and answered it with first principles of common sense (Inquiry into the Human Mind, 1764). T. Reid, An Inquiry into the Human Mind (1764), Dedication, chs. I and VII; SEP “Thomas Reid”
Evidence: AI draft
Thomas Reid › 1710–1796
Immanuel Kant influenced
influenced ✓
Kant generalised Hume’s question about cause and effect into the problem of how synthetic judgements a priori are possible (Critique of Pure Reason, 2nd ed. 1787, Introduction). I. Kant, Kritik der reinen Vernunft (2nd ed. 1787), Introduction; Prolegomena (1783); SEP “Kant and Hume on Causality”
criticised by
Kant credited Hume with interrupting his dogmatic slumber but rejected deriving causality from habit, making it an a priori category (Prolegomena, 1783, Preface). I. Kant, Prolegomena (1783), Preface (AA IV 257–260); Kritik der reinen Vernunft, B 19–20, B 127–128
Evidence: AI draft
Immanuel Kant › 1724–1804
Catharine Macaulay
criticised by
Macaulay’s History of England (1763–1783) set a republican account of the Stuart era against Hume’s History, which in Macaulay’s view excused arbitrary royal power. C. Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James I to that of the Brunswick Line (8 vols., 1763–1783); SEP “Catharine Macaulay”
Evidence: AI draft
Catharine Macaulay › 1731–1791
Mary Shepherd
criticised by
Against Hume, Shepherd held that reason, not custom, shows that nothing begins to exist without a cause (Essay upon the Relation of Cause and Effect, 1824). M. Shepherd, An Essay upon the Relation of Cause and Effect (1824); SEP “Mary Shepherd”
Evidence: AI draft
Mary Shepherd › 1777–1847
Alasdair MacIntyre
criticised by
MacIntyre read Hume’s grounding of morals in the passions, and his is–ought gap, as part of the failed Enlightenment project of justifying morality (After Virtue, 1981). A. MacIntyre, After Virtue (1981), chs. 4–5; Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (1988)
Evidence: AI draft
Alasdair MacIntyre › 1929–2025
Criticizes 3
René Descartes
criticised
Hume objected that Descartes’ antecedent universal doubt would be incurable, since no principle could restore trust in our faculties once all were suspended (Enquiry, 1748, XII). D. Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748), XII.i; SEP “David Hume”
Evidence: AI draft
René Descartes › 1596–1650
John Locke influenced by
influenced by ✓
Hume took over Locke’s principle that all ideas come from experience, recasting it as the thesis that every simple idea copies a prior impression (Treatise, 1739). D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739); J. Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding (1689); SEP “David Hume”
criticised
Hume objected that Locke drew the idea of power from reasoning, though no reasoning can yield a new simple idea (Treatise, 1739, 1.3.14; Enquiry VII). D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), 1.3.14; An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748), VII, note; J. Locke, Essay II.xxi
Evidence: AI draft
John Locke › 1632–1704
Adam Ferguson
criticised
Hume judged the draft of Ferguson’s Essay on the History of Civil Society unfit for the public in style and reasoning (letter to Hugh Blair, 1766). D. Hume to H. Blair, 11 Feb. 1766, in The Letters of David Hume, ed. J. Y. T. Greig (1932), vol. II
Evidence: AI draft
Adam Ferguson › 1723–1816
Works
Impressions and ideas, causation as custom, the self as a bundle.
The sharpened version of the problems of causation and induction.
A critique of the design argument.
Position
Hume wanted to build a science of human nature on experience. All our ideas derive from impressions, and when we examine causation we find no necessary connection, only constant conjunction and our habit of expecting the effect – so induction has no rational justification. The self, too, is no substance, but a bundle of perceptions. In ethics reason is “the slave of the passions”: morality rests on feeling and sympathy, and no “ought” follows from an “is”. His Dialogues dismantle the argument from design. Kant said that Hume’s scepticism woke him from his “dogmatic slumber”, and he remains a key influence on empiricism and analytic philosophy. In a footnote added to “Of National Characters” in 1753 he wrote that he was “apt to suspect” Black people to be “naturally inferior to the whites” – a passage contested already in his lifetime (by James Beattie, among others) and central to debates about racism in the Enlightenment.
Life & context
Born in Edinburgh in 1711, Hume wrote his first major work while staying in France and published it in his late twenties. Its poor reception and his reputation as a sceptic cost him professorships in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He became famous instead as an essayist and as the author of a History of England, worked as librarian of the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh and as a diplomat in Paris, and died in Edinburgh in 1776.
Further main works
- An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751)
- The History of England (1754–1762)
Appears in
- Journey ‘Doubt and the Self’ · Stop 5 of 10
- Debate ‘Are We Free? Free Will in an Age of Neuroscience’
- Debate ‘A Right to Die? Assisted Dying’
- Debate ‘Hume and Rousseau: The Quarrel of 1766’
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