The life of Famous Philosopher David Hume: Summary
David Hume, Scotland's most famous philosopher, was born in Edinburgh on 7th May, 1711, and died in Edinburgh on 25th August, 1776 at the age of 65. He was a founder of the British Renaissanc
e ("reawakening"), the Scottish Radical Enlightenment and the agnostic school of philosophy - taking Empiricism ("reasoning through experience") to its logical conclusion of total scepticism, limited only by practical reservations. His writings questioned the truth of religious dogma for which he paid the price of not being seriously considered for professor at either Edinburgh or Glasgow Universities. He was sociable and had many friends, but his life was spent in study and writing, except for several short interruptions when he was a secretary to military missions (later to become Embassies) in Austria, Italy and France, and when he was the under-Secretary of State for Scotland.
Famous Philosopher David Hume's life falls into two base locations :
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1. David Hume's Chirnside:
For his first 41 years philosopher David Humes' home was in the country at Ninewells, a farmstead near Chirnside, Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders. When he was two years old, his father (a lawyer turned country gentleman) died and he was brought up by his mother (whose own father was an eminent Edinburgh lawyer). She oversaw his early education and hoped that he would become a lawyer. He attended Edinburgh University at the age of twelve, but gave up law studies in favour of his passion for philosophy and literature (especially the Latin and Greek Classics). His strenuous studying seriously affected his mental and physical health. Seeking less arduous mental activity he became, for a short time in England, a tutor and then a merchant; but he found these employments unfulfilling. So he spent three years in "retreat" in France, during which time, before he was 25, he wrote his Treatise of Human Nature, an extensive work in three volumes. Returning to Ninewells he wrote moral, political and literary essays. After a year as tutor to a Marquis in England, he became secretary to General St. Clair on a military expedition against the French that was supposed to take him to America and on to Canada, but was redirected to France itself due to turbulent weather. He returned to Ninewells to write his Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, which included rewriting parts of his Treatise (which had "fallen dead born" from the press and required rewriting). He then rejoined General St. Clair, this time as secretary on a mission to Austria and Italy. He again returned to Ninewells to write essays on political economy and imaginary dialogues on religion.
"He gave his last dinner party on July 4th, 1776, unwittingly celebrating the day America declared its Independence."
2. David Hume's Edinburgh:
For the last 24 years of philosopher David Humes' life his base was in the capital where he valued his contacts and further friendships, most notably with Adam Smith, the moral and political economist. As librarian to the Faculty of Advocates HUME had access to a vast amount of resource material which he used for writing his objective History of England. When he was Secretary to the British Mission in Paris, he helped introduce Benjamin Franklin to French society and later to Scottish society. After a year as secretary to the British Ambassador to France, he returned to Britain with Jean Jacques Rousseau, a tale with an unpleasant ending. Against the views of his own government and most British people, Hume publicly supported independence for the American colonies. In his last two years he suffered from what was probably cancer of the intestines; but he surprised all his friends with his good spirits, as he continued to work on further editions of his writings. He gave his last dinner party on July 4th, 1776, unwittingly celebrating the day America declared its Independence for which he, against British public opinion, had campaigned for being gained through an Act of Parliament releasing the colonies rather than through Britain provoking a revolutionary war. If a film were made of David HUME today, it could perhaps be called "Bravehead".He died on 25th August, 1776.
There is no instance of a man of genius who has wasted less in idleness or in unavailing pursuits. Money was not his object, nor was temporary fame; though, of the means of independent livelihood, and a good repute among men, he never lost sight: but his ruling ambition, pursued in poverty and riches, in health and sickness, in laborious obscurity and amidst the blaze of fame, was to establish a permanent name, resting on the foundation of literary achievements, likely to live as long as human thought endured, and mental philosophy was studied.
-- J.H. Burton, Life and Correspondence of David HUME, Vol. 1, p 18.
Commentary on famous philosopher David Hume's Writings can be found here.
