David Hume Research Paper

Philosophy is the study of the where and how of knowledge, existence, and reality. It is the study of the essence of what is humanity and the world around it. David Hume is a public knowledge figure of the 18th century. David Hume spent most of his life devoted to telling the public of his views philosophy, such as The Copy Principle, the Principle of Association, the Bundle theory and his views on morals, and he left a tremendous impact on not just philosophy but also history and economy. David Hume’s life begin when he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He had one older brother and sister, a mother and a father who “died just after David’s second birthday” (T. Morris). His family was well connected but not wealthy and was also deeply religious.

The theory is about what makes someone who they are. David Hume does not believe that there is one person that is tangible. His theory is that people are just “a bundle of perceptions, like links in a chain” (SparkNotes Editors). One way to think about it is a person takes a box. Inside the box, they put everything that makes them who they are such as certain books, glasses, etc. Then they take away the box. That bundle, or pile, of things is the person (Hank). He also believes that the idea of the self doesn’t “persist over time” (Hank). Because the objects in your pile change based on what you like there is no such thing as the “same person from birth to death”

While his philosophy was not very well taken in the early parts of his life it helped other philosophers to create their own ideas. He helped in the development of the “critical philosophy by Immanuel Kant and Auguste Comte’s positivism” (“David Hume”). He helped lead Kant to argue that “the validity of causal judgments is guaranteed” (Britannica Editors). David Hume overall is an “intensely admired figure” (Jessop). In History his works of The History of England, Hume wove stories of history into an interesting format unknown before him. Traditionally history only told about military and war but Hume wrote more, which made it “more readable” (“David Hume”). As an economist, his political discourses helped influence Adam Smith who went to become a “pioneer of political economy” (“David Hume”). He also introduced several ideas which “the ‘classical economics’ of the 18th century was built” (“David