A Dissertation on the Passions
Hume reorganizes the emotions analyzed in the Treatise’s second book by describing their causes, objects and associations.
Understanding the text
Published in Four Dissertations, it later joined Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects.
Key points
- 01
Relations
Emotions change through connections between ideas and impressions.
- 02
Pride
Pride and humility concern the self while taking their causes from qualities or possessions.
- 03
Motivation
Conduct depends on passions; descriptive reason alone does not create the ends of action.
How to read it
Compare one example of pride in the two versions. Identify simplifications in presentation without assuming that every development of the Treatise was retained.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗