Historians generally classify Hume's philosophy as complete skepticism, but some people think that naturalism is also one of Hume's central ideas. Scholars who study Hume often divide it into those who emphasize skepticism (such as logical positivism) and those who emphasize naturalism.
Hume's philosophy was deeply influenced by empiricists John Locke and george berkeley and some French writers. He also absorbed the theories of various British intellectuals, such as isaac newton, Francis hutcheson and Adam Smith.
Theory of human nature
1734, after doing business in Bristol for several months, Hume went to La Flè che in Anjou, France, where Hume often had philosophical discussions with Jesuit students from Pritana Military School, of which rene descartes was also a graduate. During the four years of living there, Hume made a career plan for himself, determined to "live a very simple life to cope with my limited property, thus ensuring my independence, and I don't have to consider anything except enhancing my literary talent." Hume also completed a theory of human nature when he settled in France, when he was only 26 years old. Although most modern scholars regard The Theory of Human Nature as Hume's most important work and one of the most important works in the history of philosophy, it did not receive much attention when it was first published. Hume read book reviews in academic journals in Britain, France and Germany, some of which were even very long, but they were basically negative. Hume wrote a reply to this: "Abstract of a newly published book; The title of the book, The Theory of Human Nature; The main points of the book are further elaborated and explained here (abstract of a published book; The title is "A Paper"
The human side. Among them, the main points of the book are further explained and explained. 1740 This abstract is published in the form of an anonymous booklet. When recording his lack of public attention at that time, Hume wrote: "The media's response to this book was silent, and even enthusiastic readers did not get any explanation. But I actually developed an optimistic and cheerful personality, and soon stood up from such setbacks and continued to study hard in the countryside. " He continued to write the abstract of The Theory of Human Nature, but did not write his own name. He tried to shorten and streamline his previous novels to attract more readers, but even after such efforts, he still failed to regain the importance of this book. The arduous process of writing The Theory of Human Nature made young Hume almost insane. In order to restore normal thinking ability, Hume decided to return to ordinary life temporarily.
British history
After the publication of 1744' s collection of essays "Morality and Politics", Hume applied to be a professor in the Department of Ethics and Spiritual Philosophy of Edinburgh University, but was rejected by the university. During the James Party rebellion in 1745, Hume became the governess of Marquis Annadale (1720- 1792) and was described as a "madman" by officials at that time. The job ended after only a year or so. However, it was also during this period that Hume began to write his historical masterpiece "History of Great Britain", which lasted for 15 years and exceeded one million words. Finally, it was published in six volumes from 1754 to 1762. During this period, Hume attended the Carnot Gate Theatre founded by james burnett, and he also met many other Scottish enlightenment philosophers who were in Edinburgh at that time. From 1748, he served as the secretary-general of General St. Clare for three years, and at the same time wrote his book "Inquiry into Human Understanding". However, like previous books, this book was not taken seriously when it was published at that time.
At this time, Hume was accused of heresy by the church, and a young friend of Hume stood up and defended him, thinking that Hume, as an atheist, was not within the jurisdiction of the church. Although Hume was later acquitted, the University of Glasgow still rejected Hume's application as a professor of philosophy, which may be due to the deliberate obstruction of another philosopher Thomas Reid who strongly criticized Hume's metaphysics. According to Hume's autobiography, until he returned to Edinburgh in 1752, "Edinburgh University asked me to be their librarian. This position only earned me a small salary, but it gave me the opportunity to contact such a huge library." The rich resources in the library of Edinburgh University enabled Hume to continue his research on the history of Great Britain.
Hume eventually became a famous critic and historian. His magnum opus History of Great Britain describes the history from the Saxon Kingdom to the glorious revolution, and it became a best seller as soon as it was published. In this book, Hume shaped people under the political system into a product of cultural customs. These people traditionally tend to obey the existing * * *, and only in the face of uncertainty will they seek change. From this perspective, only religious differences can make people deviate from their daily lives and start to pay attention to political affairs.