A Treatise of Human Nature
Hume wrote much of it during his stay in France; an appendix corrects and complicates several arguments.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)Empiricism · Mitigated skepticism · 1711–1776
David Hume
Examine what our habits lead us to believe.
Scotland · France · England
Bibliography
Return to the texts.
Works, testimonies and further readings are distinguished. Dates refer to composition or first publication, as specified in each entry.
Bibliographic scope
Revised collections should not be counted as new books with every title change. Four Dissertations and its individually listed texts intentionally overlap. All 99 numbered letters in Hill’s 1888 edition are indexed: 84 by Hume and 15 by other writers. This volume does not cover all his correspondence; the Greig corpus and other occasional writings remain to be added.
Explore letters and fragmentsAn Abstract of the Treatise of Human Nature
Attribution to Hume is now widely accepted; the Abstract is not a balanced condensation of all three books.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
Published in 1748 as Philosophical Essays, it received its current title in 1758 and replaced certain Treatise formulations for Hume.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals
He considered this enquiry particularly successful; it reworks the Treatise’s ethics in a more accessible form.
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The initial series of 1741–1742 were revised and reorganized, so contents depend on the chosen edition.
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Published separately in 1752, the collection was later incorporated into editions of the Essays.
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The publishing plan changed before release; the essays on suicide and immortality are absent from this volume.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)The Natural History of Religion
The first of Four Dissertations distinguishes a belief’s psychological origin from its rational justification.
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Hume worked on the text for years and arranged posthumous publication; the characters are not transparent mouthpieces.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)The History of England
Hume began with the Stuarts and then worked backward, so publication dates do not follow narrative chronology.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)A Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh
The pamphlet belongs to Hume’s university application and the religious opposition it encountered.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)A Dissertation on the Passions
Published in Four Dissertations, it later joined Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)Of Suicide
Withdrawn from the planned dissertations of 1757, it circulated and appeared after Hume’s death; its editions have a complex history.
Explore this workVisit the source(new tab)Of the Immortality of the Soul
Planned for the dissertations and then withdrawn, it appeared after Hume’s death alongside the essay on suicide.
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Written in 1776 and published in 1777, it is often accompanied by Adam Smith’s letter describing Hume’s death.
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George Birkbeck Hill’s annotated edition appeared in 1888. Its 99 numbered letters include replies and eleven documents written after Hume’s death.
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