David Hume
Scottish philosopher of the Scottish Enlightenment (1711 to 1776), born in Edinburgh; author of A Treatise of Human Nature, the Enquiries, and a History of England.
David Hume did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
-
All our ideas, the fainter perceptions, are copies of our impressions, the more lively ones
Or, to express myself in philosophical language, all our ideas or more feeble perceptions are copies of our impressions or more lively ones.
gutenberg.orgSaid c. 1748This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 7 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
All our ideas, the fainter perceptions, are copies of our impressions, the more lively ones
Or, to express myself in philosophical language, all our ideas or more feeble perceptions are copies of our impressions or more lively ones.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
Knowledge of cause and effect is never reached by reasoning a priori; it comes entirely from experience of things constantly conjoined
I shall venture to affirm, as a general proposition, which admits of no exception, that the knowledge of this relation is not, in any instance, attained by reasonings a priori; but arises entirely from experience, when we find that any particular objects are constantly conjoined with each other.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
Custom is the great guide of human life; it alone makes experience useful by leading us to expect the future to resemble the past
Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. It is that principle alone which renders our experience useful to us, and makes us expect, for the future, a similar train of events with those which have appeared in the past.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
Show 4 more
A wise person proportions their belief to the evidence
A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
Because uniform experience establishes the laws of nature, the proof against any miracle is as complete as an argument from experience can be
A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
No testimony suffices to establish a miracle unless its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact it seeks to establish
The plain consequence is (and it is a general maxim worthy of our attention), 'That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish; and even in that case there is a mutual destruction of arguments, and the superior only gives us an assurance suitable to that degree of force, which remains, after deducting the inferior.'
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
A book with neither abstract reasoning about quantity or number nor experimental reasoning about fact should be burned as sophistry and illusion
If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748; 1777 edition, ed. L. A. Selby-Bigge) Said c. 1748
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.