Major Works
Essays: Moral, Political, Literary (1741-1777)
- Hume, David. Essays: Moral, Political, Literary. Edited by Eugene F. Miller. Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1985.Hume critiques abstract theorizing about politics, favoring practical approaches grounded in the realities of human nature and society. In essays like “Of the Original Contract,” he rejects the idea that legitimate political authority arises from a… More
The History of England (1754-1762)
- Hume, David. The History of England. Edited by William B. Todd. Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1983.From the publisher: 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… 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