num_pages: 238
description: David Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is the definitive statement of the greatest philosopher in the English language. His arguments in support of reasoning from experience, and against the "sophistry and illusion"of religiously inspired philosophical fantasies, causedcontroversy in the eighteenth century and are strikingly relevant today, when faith and science continue to clash.The Enquiry considers the origin and processes of human thought, reaching the stark conclusion that we can have no ultimate understanding of the physical world, or indeed our own minds. In either sphere we must depend on instinctive learning from experience, recognizing our animal nature and thelimits of reason. Hume's calm and open-minded skepticism thus aims to provide a new basis for science, liberating us from the "superstition" of false metaphysics and religion. His Enquiry remains one of the best introductions to the study of philosophy, and his edition places it in its historicaland philosophical context.
language: English
title: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
titlecomplete: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, College, Psychology, Academic, 18th Century, School, Religion, Classics
ratings_count: 20692
publisher: Oxford University Press