A Treatise of Human Nature (Philosophical Classics) Paperback – November 17, 2003

That's an overstatement, certainly, but David Hume's 'Treatise of Human Nature' is unquestionably one of the most influential and important works of philosophy in the history of mankind. And considering current trends in academia, it is more timely than ever. As an undergraduate, I remember being stunned by Hume's seemingly irrefutable arguments on the nature of reason and reality. As a graduate student often disturbed by the uncritical acceptance of faddish theories, I was amazed to find that Hume is as relevant today as he was over two hundred and fifty years ago. Within the first few pages of the book, he manages to outline an intellectual framework that even today makes the arguments of the most highly-regarded theorists sound hollow and jargonistic.Hume's ideas are now so widely accepted and taught that they affect the way we interact with the world on a daily basis, whether we realize it or not. Yet Hume was also groundbreaking in another sense-- he made profound philosophical ideas accessible, and even entertaining. Not only is the 'Treatise' notable for its clarity, but for a wit and charm that make it nearly as pleasant to read as Dumas' 'Three Musketeers.' No mean feat for a man recording ideas that would shape the course of Western civilization. Small wonder that even as philosophers acknowledge him as one of the greats of the discipline, so many have sought to emulate his clear prose, free as it is of jargon, neologisms, or esoteric concepts.And as if that weren't enough, Hume was such a decent and well-liked individual in his own lifetime that he was referred to as 'le bon David' in France and 'St. David' in his native Scotland. It's a shame that not all of history's giants can be so appealing.

Dogmatic slumbers aside, I almost feel that Kant felt the need to write a proper work for Hume to criticize. After all, who was Hume writing against? Aristotle? Maybe. It is more like Hume had a crystal ball and wrote to reject Kant before he was even born. Then Kant came along and felt the Hume did not have a proper object for his skeptical ire so he got to work writing the First Critique. If you love Kant (or hate Kant) you will hate (or love) Hume respectively. They really make an amazing pair. Using these two as a pair can really spice up a philosophy class. Just as Aristotle rejected his teacher Plato's wishy washiness, so does Kant reject his predecessor's wishy washiness. However there is always this abiding respect. Its too bad that Hume never had a chance for a rebuttal against Kant. This is why philosophers need time machines. The commentaries that come with this edition are enlightening and informative. I generally don't like commentaries but Norton and Norton (David and Mary) do a great job. I enjoyed both the Editor's Introduction and the exhaustive annotations.

Amazon groups all reviews together for different editions of the "same" book. What is missed is that different editions are really different books. These very brief comments refer to the print version of the Oxford Philosophical Text version of David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, edited by David Fate Norton and Mary J. Norton.This edition is a wonderful piece of scholarship, with illuminating commentary and notes. I found this edition to be especially helpful for my students. There is a long introductory essay, comments throughout the text, notes and a glossary.Even if you have the Selby-Bigge edition, every Hume scholar and serious student should add this to their library. Other than the Selby-Bigge and Oxford editions, avoid all other print editions. (By Oxford editions, I refer to this version and the version also edited by the Nortons under the Clarendon Series label.)

Challenging reading, but fascinating glimpse into 18th century world view

Somewhat difficult to read given the differences in writing styles from the authors day and today. Still, the insights provided make it a worthwhile read.

It would be impudent for me to review one of the five greatest classics in the history of philosophy, so I shall limit myself to this book on Kindle, which I consider to be a great success. It has everything you really need. It has a two level active Table of Contents (Upper level is very general sections, such as Introduction and the three Books. Lower level includes all the Parts, and sections within those parts, just as Hume wrote them.) The Search facility works quite well except that, as usual, a search may bring up only a hundred returns, and the way to refine the search is crude.

The media could not be loaded.  Old review at the bottom.So the book literally just fell apart. The binding completely broke! After owning for 2 days and reading once.- “Book came in with multiple scratches and ware but I’m not sure whether to blame shipping or the distributer. Normally would not be upset, but for $40 I think it’s not too unreasonable. That being said, the text itself is great with great edits and notes.”

Hume lays out quite nicely from impressions and ideas and each and every outcome of thought and action based on them. However, the Kindle read is really is difficult to follow at times due to the transcribed words. Give yourself a little extra time to decipher what is printed to what should be relayed. There is actually wording of"c programming language" in this, pg 952 of the kindle version. I'm pretty sure 1739 was a bit early for the computer age...I want to give it more stars based on the content, but it's just so difficult to.

Bad edition. Errors and horrible introduction

Possibly my favourite text in the early modern philosophical cannon. Biting, decisive, and lucid - and written with wit. Although huge - and slightly bigger than needed - both the introduction and notes are excellent, written by one of my favourite Hume scholars. Highly recommended if you’re studying this at university or if you want to read it on your own, but be warned about the colossal size. (This is the biggest book I own except for the complete works of Shakespeare, and some art books). Arrived in good condition. Expensive, but not ridiculous for a university course book.

E' identica all'edizione del 1976 (Bigge-Nidditch, paperback) ma il formato più grande sembra più solido.Quanto al contenuto è tra i più famosi classici della filosofia in lingua inglese.

Book arrived on time,the quality of pages and print is superb. Easily one of the best books... A must buy.

This version has typos all through it. Do not buy this version. The content is supremely interesting but not its presentation