Hume: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: And Other Writings

Front Cover
Stephen Buckle
Cambridge University Press, Feb 15, 2007 - Philosophy - 278 pages
David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, first published in 1748, is a concise statement of Hume's central philosophical positions. It develops an account of human mental functioning which emphasizes the limits of human knowledge and the extent of our reliance on (non-rational) mental habits. It then applies that account to questions of free will and religious knowledge before closing with a defence of moderate scepticism. This volume, which presents a modified version of the definitive 1772 edition of the work, offers helpful annotation for the student reader, together with an introduction that sets this profoundly influential work in its philosophical and historical contexts. The volume also includes a selection of other works by Hume that throw light on both the circumstances of the work's genesis and its key themes and arguments.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
2
Section 2
3
Section 3
14
Section 4
19
Section 5
28
Section 6
41
Section 7
54
Section 8
57
Section 11
96
Section 12
117
Section 13
131
Section 14
147
Section 15
163
Section 16
181
Section 17
190
Section 18
198

Section 9
73
Section 10
92
Section 19
203
Section 20
215

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About the author (2007)

Stephen Buckle is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Australian Catholic University.

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