An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Controversial and widely debated since its publication, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a classic of empiricist philosophy whose questions remain as relevant today as ever. Philosopher David Hume was considered to be one of the most important figures in the age of Scottish enlightenment. In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Hume discusses the weakness that humans have in their abilities to comprehend the world around them, what is referred to in the title as human understanding. Hume also discusses including the limits of human understanding, the compatibility of free will with determinism, weaknesses in the foundations of religion, and the appeal of skepticism. A major work in the empiricist school of thought that included John Locke and George Berkeley, Hume's work influenced such later authors as Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, and Jeremy Bentham. A great introduction to the philosophy of David Hume, "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" and the ideas within it are as intriguing today as when they were first written.