David Hume

Hume never married in his lifetime. He spent considerable time with his family in Ninewells, Berkwickshire.

In 1775, Hume was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. He breathed his last on August 25, 1776. As desired by him, his body was interred in a simple Roman tomb on the south-western slope of Calton Hill in the Old Calton Cemetery. He requested in his will that his tomb be inscribed only with his name and year of birth and death.

David Hume was born on April 26, 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland to Joseph Home and The Honorable Katherine Falconer. He was the second of the two sons born to the couple.

Young Home’s father died when he was barely two years old. He was single-handedly raised by his mother. In 1734, Home changed his surname to Hume as Home was little known in England.

At the age of 12, Hume attended University of Edinburgh. This was unusual considering the standard age for admission during those days was 14. Hume considered a career in law but found his real calling in philosophy and general learning. As a result, he never graduated.

At the age of 18, Hume made a philosophical discovery that opened ‘a new scene of thought’ for him. Such was the influence of the thought over him that he gave up everything, to pursue it. Though no one actually knows what the new scene of thought was, many have interpreted their own variations.

Inspired by the new thought, Hume spent more than 10 years reading and writing on the subject. He reached a stage wherein he was on the verge of mental breakdown. Just as when he decided to come out of his shell and have an active social, Hume was afflicted with a ravenous appetite and palpitations of the heart. It took him some time to become sturdy and robust.

Despite having a noble background, Hume had very limited means for livelihood and no formal education as well. As such, he set forth to Bristol wherein he apprenticed as an assistant to a rich merchant.Hume’s apprenticeship did not last long as he soon retired to La Fleche in Anjou, France

After about four years in France, Hume came up with his first work, ‘A Treatise of Human Nature’, subtitled ‘Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects’ in 1738. The treatise was Hume’s attempt to formulate a full-fledged philosophical system.

The book, ‘Treatise’ was divided into three sub-parts while the book, ‘Of the Understanding’ discussed the origin of ideas of space, time, knowledge, probability, book II ‘Of the Passions’, described elaborate psychological machinery to explain the affective, or emotional order in humans. Book III, ‘On Morals’ characterized the moral goodness in terms of feelings of approval or disapproval that people have when they consider human behaviour in the light of agreeable or disagreeable consequences

Given the fact that Hume was one of the most controversial writers of his age, his works were greatly scrutinized and inspected. He achieved literary success with his massive six-volume literary work, ‘The History of England’, which became a bestseller and remained the standard history of England in its time. Though he espoused his debut work, ‘Treatise of Human Nature’ as juvenile, today, the work is considered as Hume’s most important literary piece. It records Hume's strongest and most important arguments, and most philosophically distinctive doctrines. It is regarded as one of the most important works in the history of Western Philosophy.