Commentary

[in chronological order]

David Hume Society Resources

The website of the David Hume Society contains link to much useful scholarship devoted to Hume, including the journal “Hume Studies.”

David Hume and America by Tom Velk & Jade Xiao [Full Text]

- Tom Velk and Jade Xiao, "David Hume and America, Then and Now," Great Thinkers, October, 2017.
Click here to read an essay on David Hume and his influence on the American founders (notably Alexander Hamilton) by Tom Velk and Jade Xiao. Excerpt: The lessons laid out in Hume’s Essays and the History were carefully read at the time of their composition… More

Hume: An Intellectual Biography

- Harris, James, Hume: An Intellectual Biography, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
From the Publisher: This is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the entire career of one of Britain’s greatest men of letters. It sets in biographical and historical context all of Hume’s works, from A Treatise of Human Nature to… More

Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment by Thomas Merrill

- Merill, Thomas. Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
“Methinks I am like a man, who having narrowly escap’d shipwreck,” David Hume writes in A Treatise of Human Nature, “has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even carries his ambition so far… More

Hume’s Politics by Andrew Sabl

- Sabl, Andrew, Hume's Politics: Coordination and Crisis in the History of England, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
From the publisher: Hume’s Politics provides a comprehensive examination of David Hume’s political theory, and is the first book to focus on Hume’s monumental History of England as the key to his distinctly political ideas. Andrew Sabl… More

David Hume and Eighteenth Century America

- Spencer, Mark. David Hume and Eighteenth Century America, Rochester: Rochester University Press, 2010.
From the Publisher: This book explores the reception of David Hume’s political thought in eighteenth-century America. It presents a challenge to standard interpretations that assume Hume’s thought had little influence in early America.… More

Introduction to Hume’s treatise by John Wright

- Wright, John P. Hume's “A Treatise of Human Nature”: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
From the publisher: David Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40) presents the most important account of skepticism in the history of modern philosophy. In this lucid and thorough introduction to the work, John P. Wright examines the development… More

A Companion to Hume

- Radcliffe, Elizabeth S., ed. A Companion to Hume, Oxford: Blackwell, 2008.
From the publisher: Comprised of twenty-nine specially commissioned essays, A Companion to Hume examines the depth of the philosophies and influence of one of history’s most remarkable thinkers. -Demonstrates the range of Hume’s work and… More

The Cambridge Companion to Hume Ed. David Norton

- Norton, David Fate, and Taylor, Jacqueline, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Hume, 2nd edition, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2008
From the publisher: Each Cambridge Companion to a philosophical figure is made up of specially commissioned essays by an international team of scholars, providing students and non-specialists with an introduction to a major philosopher. The series aims to… More
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Major Works

Essays: Moral, Political, Literary (1741-1777)

- Hume, David. Essays: Moral, Political, Literary, edited by Eugene F. Miller, Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1985.
From the publisher: As part of the tried and true model of informal essay writing, Hume began publishing his Essays: Moral, Political and Literary in 1741. The majority of these finely honed treatises fall into three distinct areas: political theory, economic… More

The History of England (1754-1762)

- Hume, David. The History of England, edited by William B. Todd, Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1983.
Hume’s great History of England the theme of which is liberty, above all English constitutional development from the Anglo-Saxon period to the Revolution of 1688. This Liberty Fund edition is based on the edition of 1778, the last to contain corrections… More

Enquiries concerning Human Understanding and concerning the Principles of Morals (1748, 1751)

- Hume, David. Enquiries concerning Human Understanding and concerning the Principles of Morals, edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge, 3rd ed. revised by P. H. Nidditch, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
From the publisher: David Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, composed before the author was twenty-six years old, was published in 1739 and 1740. Its importance was not generally recognized at the time. Hume attributing the failure of his Treatise to the… More

A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-1740)

- Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature, edited by David Fate Norton and Mary J. Norton, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
From the publisher: David Hume’s comprehensive attempt to base philosophy on a new, observationally grounded study of human nature is one of the most important texts in Western philosophy. It is also the focal point of current attempts to understand… More

Multimedia

Dennis Rasmussen on David Hume and Adam Smith

- EconTalk podcast, hosted by Russ Roberts, November 6, 2017.
How did the friendship between David Hume and Adam Smith influence their ideas? Why do their ideas still matter today? Political Scientist Dennis Rasmussen of Tufts University and author of The Infidel and the Professor talks with EconTalk host Russ… More

David Hume: Celebrating Connections

- Video or Audio. David Hume: Celebrating Connections, University of Edinburgh, 2016.
In 2016, The University of Edinburgh featured a lecture series to mark the tercentenary of its alumnus David Hume, and made the lectures available as Podcasts. Lecture series content The video podcast contains the following lectures: Prof. Paul Guyer –… More

Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment

- Thomas W. Merrill, on Libertarianism.org podcast. April, 2016.
Thomas W. Merrill, author of David Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press, 2015), joins Libertarianism.org to talk about the philosophy and political thought of David Hume. What is it about British philosopher David Hume that… More

Impressions of David Hume

- Grant Bartley, with Jane O’Grady, Peter Kail and James Arnold. Philosophy Now Podcast. First broadcast on 11 May 2014.
Isaiah Berlin said of David Hume, “No man has influenced the history of philosophy to a deeper or more disturbing degree.” Join  from Philosophy Now plus guests Jane O’Grady, Peter Kail and James Arnold to find out why.

In Our Time: David Hume

- In Our Time, BBC Radio Four, October 6, 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophy of Hume.

David Hume: 18th Century Philosopher

- Open University podcast series: "David Hume: 18th Century Philosopher". Five episodes. Each approximately 10 minutes. Open University, UK, 2011.
In this audio collection, The Open University’s Nigel Warburton is joined by A.C. Grayling and other philosophers to discuss Hume’s key theories around the self, induction and his argument against miracles. A good entry point into philosophy and the work… More

Introduction to David Hume

- Peter Millican, University of Oxford, Fall 2009.
The first in a series of introductory lectures on David Hume given by Peter Millican at Oxford University, Published on Oct 21, 2010

Other Works

The Letters of David Hume

- Hume, David. The Letters of David Hume, edited by J.Y.T. Greig, 2 volumes, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1932.
From the publisher: J. Y. T. Greig’s two-volume edition, first published in 1932, presents the correspondence of one of the great men of the 18th century. This first volume contains David Hume’s letters from 1727 to 1765. Hume correspondents… More

Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779)

- Hume, David. Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, edited by Dorothy Coleman, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
From the publisher: David Hume’s Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, first published in 1779, is one of the most influential works in the philosophy of religion and the most artful instance of philosophical dialogue since the dialogues of Plato. It… More

My Own Life

- Hume, David. “My Own Life” (Hume's autobiographical essay), in The Letters of David Hume, edited by J.Y.T. Greig, 2 volumes, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1932.
From the author: To Adam Smith. May 3. You will find among my Papers a very inoffensive Piece, called My own Life, which I composed a few days before I left Edinburgh, when I thought, as did all my Friends, that my life was despaired of. There can be no… More

The Natural History of Religion (1757)

- Hume, David. A Dissertation on the Passions and The Natural History of Religion, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2007.
From the publisher: In this volume, Tom Beauchamp presents two essays from Four Dissertations (1757), the last philosophical work written by Hume, which was subsequently revised by the philosopher in the remaining years of his life. While the bulk of A… More

A Dissertation on the Passions (1757)

- Hume, David. A Dissertation on the Passions and The Natural History of Religion, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2007.
From the publisher: In this volume, Tom Beauchamp presents two essays from Four Dissertations (1757), the last philosophical work written by Hume, which was subsequently revised by the philosopher in the remaining years of his life. While the bulk of A… More