David Hume
David Hume is most commonly known as one of the most important philosophers to ever write in the English language. His development of extreme skepticism in philosophy, and rejection of traditional metaphysics, has been integral to the development of modern philosophical thinking. Although philosophers of the past three hundred years may owe a great debt to him, and his main legacy today is as a philosopher, Hume, in his lifetime, gained the most acclaim as a historian. His work The History of Great Britain, published from 1754 to 1762, is a six-volume analysis of British history form the time of the Roman occupation until the first of the Stuart monarchs. "The first Quality of a historian is to be true and impartial; the next is to be interesting," said Hume. Hume wanted to produce an unbiased history that was interesting for a common citizen to read. Hume's main focus in this voluminous work is to convey an understanding of the British constitution and its history, without factional, or partisan, biases. Hume views his history as free from the traditional prejudices litter British histories, and is also quick to point out his superiority to these historians. Although the liberal Hume labeled himself as "a Whig, but a
Hume was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 7, 1711. His father died when he was two year's old and he was raised by his mother. His mother found him to be acutely intelligent and was his main educator throughout his childhood. Little more is known of his early childhood. Hume's Treatise presented radical philosophical ideas and defined Hume as one of the first skeptics. Hume discounted human reason, downplaying it to a habitual association of specific experiences or sensations. He believed that reason could not explain causation and that all human beings know is what they are currently sensing. Therefore human experience is merely a string of unconnected sense impressions. This leads to a rejection of scientific laws, and the notion of self. He defined humans as a collection of different perceptions. Although human promoted this radical philosophy he did acknowledge that human beings needed to think in terms of cause and effect or they would go mad. The Treatise continues and addresses ethics. Hume denies the reasonableness of right and wrong. He believed morality was simply a factor in one's pursuit of personal happiness. According to Hume, the ultimate good in morality is benevolence. This is an unselfish regard for the general welfare of society. very skeptical one." Hume is quick to slam the Whig histories of the past that tried to portray the monarch as a consummately overstepping the bounds of the constitution and infringing on the rights of the House of Commons. In fact some critics, such as Victor G. Wexler, believe Hume's portrayal of the House of Commons as the incessant aggressor, shows a royalist partiality. The idea of a bias free history is almost absurd, but in his History of Great Britain Hume feels he does an excellent job in presenting one and more specifically an account of the nature of the British constitution. Next in Hume's history he tackles the reign of James' son, Charles I. Hume again attacked the behavior of Parliament. (Discuss Chucks- debate w/ parliament) Hume began his stint at the University of Edinburgh in 1723, at the age of 12. Initially, Hume decided to study law, but after three years he shifted his focus to an intense curriculum of eclectic study of his own devising. After the university his health decayed and after a battle with sickness he matriculated to France in 1734. There he began w
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Approximate Word count = 1617
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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