An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Summary

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a book by David Hume, a philosopher from the 18th century. Hume is known for being an empiricist philosopher, meaning he believed that sensory experiences and solid evidence are all that matters when it comes to knowledge. Empiricism posits that rationalism and empirical evidence are required to truly be able to “know” anything, that no knowledge is inherent to humans and every person is a blank slate until they gain experiences.

This treatise is split into two sections, one which explains the basis of his philosophy and one that applies the epistemology to matters of life, government, academia, and nature. This in-depth and logic-driven presentation makes the empiricist philosophy more understandable even centuries after its publication.