David Hume

David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776) (N.B. The birthdate is May 7 by the Gregorian reckoning of his time; this date being used by the International Humanist and Ethical Union when celebrating his birthday) was a Scottish philosopher and historian and, with Adam Smith and Thomas Reid among others, one of the most important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Many regard Hume as the third and most radical of the so-called British Empiricists, after the English John Locke and the Anglo-Irish George Berkeley, both major influences on Hume's thought. He was also influenced by various Francophone writers such as Pierre Bayle, as well as various other figures on the Anglophone intellectual landscape such as Isaac Newton, Samuel Clarke, Francis Hutcheson, and Joseph Butler.

Related Topics:
April 26 - 1711 - August 25 - 1776 - May 7 - Gregorian - International Humanist and Ethical Union - Scottish - Philosopher - Historian - Adam Smith - Thomas Reid - Scottish Enlightenment - British Empiricists - John Locke - George Berkeley - Francophone - Pierre Bayle - Anglophone - Isaac Newton - Samuel Clarke - Francis Hutcheson - Joseph Butler

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Historians most famously see Humean philosophy as a thoroughgoing form of Scepticism, but many commentators have argued that the element of naturalism has no less importance. Hume scholarship has tended to oscillate over time between those who emphasize the sceptical side of Hume (such as Reid, Greene, and the logical positivists), and those who emphasize the naturalist side (such as Don Garrett, Norman Kemp Smith, Kerri Skinner, Barry Stroud, and Galen Strawson).

Related Topics:
Scepticism - Naturalism - Logical positivists - Norman Kemp Smith - Galen Strawson

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