Character Catalog

Hume's foundational philosophical work, in which he analyzes understanding, passions, and morality drawing solely on experience. The work went unnoticed upon publication but is today considered a masterpiece.

A collection of essays that brought Hume his first public recognition, addressing questions of politics, economics, and society with clarity and elegance.

An accessible reformulation of the first book of the Treatise, containing the famous critique of causality and the argument against miracles.

A work that Hume himself considered the best of all his writings, grounding morality in the sentiment of sympathy rather than reason.

A monumental work in six volumes that brought Hume fame during his lifetime. It remained the standard history of England for nearly a century.

Published after his death according to his wishes, these dialogues examine the arguments for the existence of God with a skeptical rigor that lastingly influenced the philosophy of religion.

Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.

If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.

The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery. No system, no hypothesis can resolve the difficulties that arise when applying our limited concepts to a universe so vast and so majestic.

I was born the 26th of April 1711, old style, at Edinburgh. I am of a good family, both by father and mother. I was seized very early with a passion for literature, which has been the ruling passion of my life, and the great source of my enjoyments. I had a disposition to mildness and openness, sociability and cheerfulness, capable of attachment but little susceptible of enmity.

Hume's birthplace and centre of the Scottish Enlightenment. He lived there for most of his life, including in his house at James Court and later in the street that now bears his name (St David Street).

Hume stayed near La Flèche between 1735 and 1737, in the quiet of the French countryside, to write his Treatise of Human Nature, not far from the Jesuit college where Descartes had studied.

Hume stayed there as embassy secretary from 1763 to 1766. He frequented the salons of the Enlightenment and formed close ties with Diderot, d'Alembert, and the Encyclopédistes.

The Hume family estate in the Scottish Borders, where the philosopher spent his childhood and many writing retreats throughout his life.

A major intellectual hub of the Scottish Enlightenment where his friend Adam Smith taught. Hume maintained regular philosophical exchanges there.

Essential writing instruments with which Hume drafted his philosophical treatises and his abundant correspondence with the great minds of Europe.

A common accessory among Scottish gentlemen of the 18th century, often used during philosophical conversations in Edinburgh's taverns and clubs.

The typical white wig worn by men of letters and polite society in the 18th century, which Hume wore in Parisian salons and fashionable circles.

Hume, as librarian of the Faculty of Advocates, had access to one of the largest book collections in Scotland, which nourished his historical and philosophical work.

A typical cabinet object of the Enlightenment, symbolising the universal curiosity and openness to the world that characterised Hume's thought.

Tea had become the favourite drink of British polite society. Hume frequently received his philosopher friends over a cup of tea.