When was A Treatise of Human Nature published?

A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume was published across the years 1739 and 1740. Initially met with a lack of public success in Britain, Hume later rewrote and recast parts of the material in subsequent works.

What we know

• A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects was published in 1739–40. [1, 2]
• The book was written by the Scottish philosopher David Hume, who is also the subject of Wikidata entry Q2451675. [1, 2]
• Hume later felt he went to the press too early with the Treatise because it was not successful with the British public at the time. [2]
• Hume subsequently recast the material from the Treatise into later pieces such as An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. [2]

Where to go next

• whoWho was David Hume?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the core ideas of philosophical empiricism?
• compared withHow did An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding differ from the Treatise?
• what caused itWhat caused Hume to rewrite his early philosophical works?
• whenWhen did David Hume pass away?
• an unexpected connectionHow does a foundational philosophical text connect to cognitive science?Jerry Fodor described David Hume's Treatise as the foundational document of cognitive science due to its deep psychological investigations into human nature.

Sources

• [1]A Treatise of Human Nature (Wikidata Q2451675) · CC0 1.0
• [2]A Treatise of Human Nature · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Two Treatises of Government · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]A Treatise on Probability · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Human Action · CC BY-SA 4.0