David Hume was one of the greatest thinkers in Western History. He was an 18th
century philosopher who looked at the world in logical terms. He was a realist who, through
philosophy, sought to distinguish between the impression of human experience and the ideas,
which are changing representations of life experiences. He was also the ultimate sceptic, who
did not accept that which presented itself as knowledge until it was proven to be so.
Hume was more than a philosopher, he was also an accomplished historian,
economist, sociologist. He had also deep effects on Enlightenment.
David Hume was born on April 26, 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland as a second son of a
lawyer family. He started to study at the university in order to become a lawyer in 1723 and
he had interested in philosophy and literature. While he was in France he wrote his
masterpiece " A Treatise of Human Nature." In this book he sought to introduce the
experimental method of reasoning into moral subject, or more simply he introduce the
scientific methods of the Enlightenment by bearing on five human subjects: Understanding,
passions, morals, politics and criticism. Hume also dedicated himself to the study of history
and wrote an important "History of Great Britain." He died on April 1776.Besides this works
he had also other important works like "Natural History of Religion." and "Dialogues
As a philosopher Hume asked himself a simple question: "What are the limits of
human knowledge?" And he started who think about the problem of knowledge. Hume
believed that all knowledge came from experience. He also believed that a person's
experience's existed only in mind. Hume believed that there was a world outside human
conscience, but he did not think this could be proved.
Hume grouped perceptions and ...