A Treatise of Human Nature -

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Rough Draft Printing, 2009 - History - 460 pages
An Unabridged, Digitally Enhanced Edition Of Both Volumes I And II, And Books I Through III, With An Updated Typeface And Layout, Including, But Not Limited To: BOOK I: Of The Understanding - Of Ideas, Their Origin, Composition, Connexion, Abstraction, Etc. - Of The Origin Of Our Ideas - Division Of The Subject - Of The Ideas Of The Memory And Imagination - Of The Connection Or Association Of Ideas - Of Relations - Of Modes And Substances - Of Abstract Ideas - Of The Ideas Of Space And Time - Of The Infinite Divisibility Of Our Ideas Of Space And Time - Of The Infinite Divisibility Of Space And Time - Of The Other Qualities Of Our Idea Of Space And Time - Objections Answered - The Same Subject Continued - Of The Idea Of Existence, And Of External Existence - Of Knowledge And Probability - Of Knowledge - Of Probability, And Of The Idea Of Cause And Effect - Why A Cause Is Always Necessary - Of The Component Parts Of Our Reasonings Concerning Cause And Effect - Of The Impressions Of The Senses And Memory - Of The Inference From The Impression To The Idea - Of The Nature Of The Idea Or Belief - Of The Causes Of Belief - Of The Effects Of Other Relations And Other Habits - Of The Influence Of Belief - Of The Probability Of Chances - Of The Probability Of Causes - Of Unphilosophical Probability - Of The Idea Of Necessary Connection - Rules By Which To Judge Of Causes And Effects - Of The Reason Of Animals - Of The Skeptical And Other Systems Of Philosophy - Of Skepticism With Regard To Reason - Of Skepticism With Regard To The Senses - Of The Ancient Philosophy - Of The Modern Philosophy - Of The Immateriality Of The Soul - Of Personal Identity - BOOK II: Of The Passions - Of Pride And Humility - Division Of The Subject - Of Pride And Humility, Their Objects And Causes - Whence These Objects And Causes Are Derived - Of The Relations Of Impressions And Ideas - Of The Influence Of These Relations On Pride And Humility - Limitations Of This System - Of Vice And Virtue - Of Beauty And Deformity - Of External Advantages And Disadvantages - Of Property And Riches - Of The Love Of Fame - Of The Pride And Humility Of Animals - Of Love And Hatred - Of The Object And Causes Of Love And Hatred - Experiments To Confirm This System - Difficulties Solved - Of The Love Of Relations - Of Our Esteem For The Rich And Powerful - Of Benevolence And Anger - Of Compassion - Of Malice And Envy - Of The Mixture Of Benevolence And Anger With Compassion And Malice - Of Respect And Contempt - Of The Amorous Passion, Or Love Betwixt The Sexes - Of The Love And Hatred Of Animals - Of The Will And Direct Passions - Of Liberty And Necessity - The Same Subject Continued - Of The Influencing Motives Of The Will - Of The Causes Of The Violent Passions - Of The Effects Of Custom - Of The Influence Of The Imagination On The Passions - Of Contiguity And Distance In Space And Time - The Same Subject Continued - Of The Direct Passions - Of Curiosity, Or The Love Of Truth - BOOK III: Of Morals - Of Virtue And Vice In General - Moral Distinctions Not Derived From Reason - Moral Distinctions Derived From A Moral Sense - Of Justice And Injustice - Justice, Whether A Natural Or Artificial Virtue? - Of The Origin Of Justice And Property - Of The Rules Which Determine Property - Of The Transference Of Property By Consent - Of The Obligation Of Promises - Some Farther Reflections Concerning Justice And Injustice - Of The Origin Of Government - Of The Source Of Allegiance - Of The Measures Of Allegiance - Of The Objects Of Allegiance - Of The Laws Of Nations - Of Chastity And Modesty - Of The Other Virtues And Vices - Of The Origin Of The Natural Virtues And Vices - Of Greatness Of Mind - Of Goodness And Benevolence - Of Natural Abilities - Some Farther Reflections Concerning The Natural Virtues - Appendix To The Treatise Of Human Nature

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About the author (2009)

David Hume was born in Edinburgh to a minor Scottish noble family, raised at the estate of Ninewells, and attended the University of Edinburgh for two years until he was 15. Although his family wished him to study law, he found himself unsuited to this. He studied at home, tried business briefly, and after receiving a small inheritance traveled to France, settling at La Fleche, where Descartes had gone to school. There he completed his first and major philosophical work, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739--40), published in three volumes. Hume claimed on the title page that he was introducing the experimental method of reasoning into moral subjects, and further that he was offering a new way of seeing the limits of human knowledge. Although his work was largely ignored, Hume gained from it a reputation as a philosophical skeptic and an opponent of traditional religion. (In later years he was called "the great infidel.") This reputation led to his being rejected for professorships at both Edinburgh and Glasgow. To earn his living he served variously as the secretary to General St. Clair, as the attendant to the mad Marquis of Annandale, and as the keeper of the Advocates Library in Edinburgh. While holding these positions, he wrote and published a new version of his philosophy, the two Enquiries, and many essays on social, political, moral, and literary subjects. He also began his six-volume History of England from the Roman Invasion to the Glorious Revolution (1754--62), the work that made him most famous in his lifetime. Hume retired from public life and settled in Edinburgh, where he was the leading figure in Scottish letters and a good friend to many of the leading intellectuals of the time, including Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin. During this period, he completed the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which he had been working on for more than 25 years. Hume first worked on the Dialogues in the middle of his career, but put them aside as too provocative. In his last years he finished them and they were published posthumously in 1779. They are probably his best literary effort and have been the basis for continuous discussion and debate among philosophers of religion. Toward the end of Hume's life, his philosophical work began to be taken seriously, and the skeptical problems he had raised were tackled by philosophers in Scotland, France, and finally Germany, where Kant claimed that Hume had awakened him from his dogmatic slumbers. Hume was one of the most influential philosophers of modern times, both as a positive force on skeptical and empirical thinkers and as a philosopher to be refuted by others. Interpreters are still arguing about whether he should be seen as a complete skeptic, a partial skeptic, a precursor of logical positivism, or even a secret believer.

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