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Treatise of Human Nature, Book 1, Part 3

David Hume · 1888

An excerpt from Hume's Treatise of Human Nature, on knowledge and probability, as presented in an online text edition.

Presents Hume's own written argument from his major philosophical work, the Treatise of Human Nature.

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About this source

What it is

This is an excerpt from Hume's Treatise of Human Nature, Book 1, Part 3, titled 'Of knowledge and probability,' as presented on Wikisource. The opening section discusses seven kinds of philosophical relation, including resemblance, identity, proportion, degrees in a quality, contrariety and causation. The Wikisource page is a volunteer-prepared online text, not a scan of the original printed book, so its wording may differ from the first edition.

Why it matters

The Treatise is one of the most important works of the Scottish Enlightenment. In this passage Hume distinguishes relations that depend only on ideas, such as the angles of a triangle, from relations that can change when objects move, such as distance. This careful sorting of knowledge shaped later debates among philosophers about how we know things.

Look closer

  • What examples does Hume use to explain the difference between relations that depend on ideas and those that do not?
  • Why might a long philosophical work be published in parts, and how does this excerpt fit into the whole?
  • What is left out of a short online excerpt that a full edition would show?

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