David Hume was a philosopher, historian, and essayist known for his unique moral religious philosophy. He was born on May 7, 1711 in Edinburgh, Scotland at Ninewells, his family’s estate. His father died when he was two years old and as a result his mother decided it was her duty to devote her life to educating her children. Katherine Falconer Hume quickly realized that David was a gifted student and sent him to Edinburgh University at the age of ten. There he received a Scottish Calvinist education and studied Latin, Greek, history, literature, and the natural sciences. Upon his return, Hume decided to follow his father and brother to become a lawyer, but quit shortly after as he believed that law was “nauseous”.

Instead Hume chose to be a “Scholar and Philosopher”, taking upon a life of reflection, contemplation, and scholarship.

In 1737, Hume went to England to publish his first work, A Treatise of Human Nature. Before its publication in 1739, a friend of Hume’s, Joseph Butler, edited the book, deleting controversial sections on miracles and religious debate. Hume organized A Treatise of Human Nature in three books, Book I, titled, Of the Understanding, Book II, Of the Passions, and Book III Of Morals. In this work Hume discusses the formation of the concepts of cause and effect, external existence and perception, and the relationship between free will and passion in choice making. A Treatise of Human Nature did not receive the praise that Hume predicted and he later wrote that “Never literary attempt was more unfortunate than my Treatise,” as it “It fell dead-born from the press, without reaching such distinction, as even to excite a murmur among the zealots.” Hume blamed its failure on the way he expressed his ideas and its lack of accessibility to the common person.

After the original publication of the Treatise, Hume continued to revise his book. In 1748, Hume published a revision of the Treatise’s Book I and selected sections of Book II titled, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding. Three years later, he wrote his revision of Book III, An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals which described as “incomparably the best” of his works. After Hume completed his revision series, he began a new project commissioned by the Edinburgh Faculty of Advocates where he would use their libraries’ collection to write a History of England. Hume published six volumes during the years of 1754 to 1762 that were bestsellers in Europe.

In 1763, Hume was offered a position as a private secretary to the British Ambassador of France and moved to Paris. He stayed there for three years before returning to Edinburgh to settle down. After his return to Scotland, he further revised his works and wrote an essay collection, Essays and two new Enquiries titled A Dissertation on the Passions and The Natural History of Religion. In 1775, Hume was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and died a year later. Before his death, he organized for the posthumous publication of Dialogue concerning Natural Religion and the autobiography, My Own Life.