Audiobook · read by volunteers
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume (1711–1776)
Read by Carl Manchester, Julian Jamison, Gesine, D.E. Wittkower, Chris Masterson, ML Cohen, Dan Polanco, Nathalie J., Leon Mire, Hugh McGuire · 19 chapters · 5 h 54
About the book
What can we really know, and how do we know it? David Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding takes up these questions in clear, elegant prose. It examines where our ideas come from, how they connect, why we believe that one event causes another, and what we should make of reports of miracles. Hume wrote the work as a shorter and more accessible version of his first book, hoping to reach a wider audience, and the result is one of the great classics of empiricism. In nineteen parts and nearly six hours, read by LibriVox volunteers, you can follow a sharp, skeptical mind at work. It is demanding, but never dull. The prose is lucid and often humorous, and the problems it raises are still discussed in classrooms today. If you want a clear and engaging path into philosophy, you could hardly do better.
Introduction
David Hume (1711 to 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian and essayist, and one of the central figures of the Enlightenment. His first major work, A Treatise of Human Nature, appeared when he was still young and received little attention. The Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, published in 1748, is a shorter and simpler version of that earlier work, intended to reach a wider audience and to dispel some of the harsh criticism the Treatise had met.
In it Hume sets out a philosophy that rests on experience. He asks where our ideas come from, how they are linked, and what justifies our belief in cause and effect. He considers free will and necessity, and he devotes a famous section to miracles. His conclusions are often skeptical, but he writes with a calm, conversational clarity that makes difficult ideas surprisingly easy to follow. Immanuel Kant later said that Hume had awakened him from his dogmatic slumber.
The recording follows the text in nineteen sections, with a running time of nearly six hours. It is read by volunteers of LibriVox. It is a good first step into philosophy, and also a rewarding return for readers who studied it long ago. Whatever you think of his conclusions, Hume remains an exemplary guide to thinking carefully about what we claim to know. Chapter titles such as those on the origin of ideas, on the association of ideas and on skeptical doubts give a clear map of the argument, so that you can follow each step. Hume's style is polished and direct, and even where you disagree, you will probably admire the way he builds his case.
Public domain
David Hume died in 1776: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text