Cover of Philosophical Works, v. 1 (of 4) Including All the Essays, and Exhibiting the More Important Alterations and Corrections in the Successive Editions Published by the — Story, Setting & Ideas

Philosophical Works, v. 1 (of 4) Including All the Essays, and Exhibiting the More Important Alterations and Corrections in the Successive Editions Published by the — Story, Setting & Ideas

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Authors: Hume, David, 1711-1776 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2016 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Knowledge, Theory of; Philosophy, English -- 18th century Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 139,110

Reading time 605 min

Text sections 16

Before opening Philosophical Works, v. 1 (of 4) Including All the Essays, and Exhibiting the More Important Alterations and Corrections in the Successive Editions Published by the — Story, Setting & Ideas, the edition data offers a quick orientation: 139,110 words, 10 hr 5 min estimated reading time, and 16 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 25.7 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Knowledge, Theory of,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #53791

This editorial note examines how the catalog subjects 'Knowledge, Theory of' and 'Philosophy, English -- 18th century' align with the excerpts from Hume's collected works, focusing on the editor's apparatus, Hume's argumentative method, and his use of 'system' language.

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ris had issued an arrêt for apprehending him, on account of his _Emilius_. I was at that time at Edinburgh. A person of great worth wrote to me from Paris, that Mr Rousseau intended to seek an asylum in England, and desired I would do him all the good offices in my power. As I conceived Mr Rousseau had actually put his design in execution, I wrote to several of my friends in London, recommending this celebrated exile to their favour. I wrote also immediately to Mr Rousseau himself; assuring him of my desire to oblige, and readiness to serve him. At the same time, I invited him to come to Edinburgh, if the situation would be agreeable, and offered him a retreat in my own house, so long as he should please to partake of it. There needed no other motive to excite me to this act of humanity, than the idea given me of Mr Rousseau's personal character, by the friend who had recommended him, his well known genius and abilities, and above all, his misfortunes; the very cause of which was an additional reason to interest me in his favour. The following is the answer I received.

MR ROUSSEAU TO MR HUME.

_Motiers-Travers_, _Feb_. 19, 1763.

I did not receive till lately, and at this place, the letter you did me the honour to direct to me at London, the 2d of July last, on the supposition that I was then arrived at that capital. I should doubtless have made choice of a retreat in your country, and as near as possible to yourself, if I had foreseen what a reception I was to meet with in my own. No other nation could claim a preference to England. And this prepossession, for which I have dearly suffered, was at that time too natural not to be very excusable; but, to my great astonishment, as well as that of the public, I have met with nothing but affronts and insults, where I hoped to have found consolation at least, if not gratitude. How many reasons have I not to regret the want of that asylum and philosophical hospitality I should have found with you! My misfortunes, indeed, have constantly seemed to lead me in a manner that way. The protection and kindness of my Lord Marshall, your worthy and illustrious countryman, hath brought Scotland home to me, if I may so express myself, in the midst of Switzerland; he hath made you so often bear a part in our conversation, hath brought me so well acquainted with your virtues, which I before was only with your talents, that he inspired me with the most tender friendship for you, and the most ardent desire of obtaining yours, before I even knew you were disposed to grant it. Judge then of the pleasure I feel, at finding this inclination reciprocal. No, Sir, I should pay your merit but half its due, if it were the subject only of my admiration. Your great impartiality, together with your amazing penetration and genius, would lift you far above the rest of mankind, if you were less attached to them by the goodness of your heart. My Lord Marshal, in acquainting me that the amiableness of your disposition was still greater than the sublimity of your genius, rendered a correspondence with you every day more desirable, and cherished in me those wishes which he inspired, of ending my days near you. Oh, Sir, that a better state of health, and more convenient circumstances, would but enable me to take such a journey in the manner I could like! Could I but hope to see you and my Lord Marshal one day settled in your own country, which should for ever after be mine, I should be thankful, in such a society, for the very misfortunes that led me into it, and should account the day of its commencement as the first of my life. Would to Heaven I might live to see that happy day, though now more to be desired than expected! With what transports should I not exclaim, on setting foot in that happy country which gave birth to David Hume and the Lord Marshal of Scotland!

Salve, facis mihi debita tellus! Hæc domus, hæc patria est. J.J.R.

This letter is not published from a motive of vanity; as will be seen presently, when I give the reader a recantation of all the eulogies it contains; but only to complete the course of our correspondence, and to show that I have been long since disposed to Mr Rousseau's service.

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The 1825 edition of David Hume's Philosophical Works, volume one, presents a text that is as much about editorial intervention as it is about Hume's own arguments. The editor's Advertisement announces a policy of collating earlier editions and recording 'the successive variations of sentiment and taste' in footnotes, marking 'the gradual and most observable increase of caution' in Hume's expression. This apparatus transforms the reading experience: the reader is never allowed to forget that the words on the page are the product of a specific historical moment and a deliberate process of revision.

The Editor as Intermediary

The catalog subject 'Philosophy, English -- 18th century' might suggest a direct encounter with Hume's thought, but the editor's presence complicates that. The Advertisement explains that the text follows the 1777 edition 'corrected by the Author for the press, a short time before his death,' yet the editor also inserts notes from earlier editions to show 'the more important alterations and corrections.' This means the reader is constantly comparing versions, not simply absorbing a final statement. The editor even includes a list of collated editions, from 1741 onward, turning the volume into a textual laboratory. For instance, the excerpt from Section IX contains no footnote in the provided text, but the editor's promise of notes for 'not merely verbal' changes suggests that elsewhere the reader must weigh variant phrasings. This editorial framing aligns with the catalog's 'Knowledge, Theory of' by making the process of textual transmission itself a subject of inquiry.

Hume's Associative Architecture

The excerpt from Section IX of the Treatise reveals Hume's method of building arguments through systematic relations. He explicitly names 'resemblance and contiguity' as 'associating principles of thought' alongside cause and effect. The passage then tests whether belief can arise from all three relations, only to conclude from experience that 'belief arises only from causation.' This is not a casual observation; Hume structures his reasoning as a self-correcting loop. He presents an objection, then offers a solution, using terms like 'system' and 'reality' with deliberate precision. The mind, he writes, forms 'a kind of system' from memory and senses, and another from judgment, which 'peoples the world.' This vocabulary of system-building is central to Hume's epistemology and directly supports the catalog subject 'Knowledge, Theory of.' The reader sees Hume not merely stating conclusions but demonstrating how philosophical inquiry proceeds by turning the subject 'on every side.'

The Rhetoric of Caution and Confidence

The editor's note about 'increase of caution' in Hume's expression finds a counterpart in the excerpt's own rhetoric. Hume begins Section IX by calling a 'scrupulous hesitation to receive any new hypothesis' a 'laudable disposition in philosophers.' Yet he also asserts his principles as 'extraordinary and such fundamental principles.' This tension between caution and confidence runs through the passage. He uses first-person constructions ('I have often observed,' 'I paint the universe in my imagination') that personalize the argument, while simultaneously appealing to 'experience' and 'the mind' as universal authorities. The catalog subject 'Philosophy, English -- 18th century' often emphasizes Hume's skepticism, but here the rhetoric is more balanced: he is both the cautious inquirer and the confident system-builder. The editor's apparatus, by highlighting changes across editions, reinforces this duality, showing that Hume's caution was itself a developing trait.

Readers approaching this volume should attend to the footnotes and the editor's preface as integral parts of the work. The catalog subjects provide a starting point, but the excerpts show that Hume's theory of knowledge is inseparable from his method of argument and the textual history that shaped it. Comparing the 1825 text with earlier editions—if accessible—can reveal how Hume's philosophical positions evolved, but even within this single volume, the interplay between the editor's apparatus and Hume's prose offers a richer understanding of eighteenth-century philosophical practice.

There’s something tender about watching Hume trace his own revisions, the way he keeps rethinking what he meant by “system.” It reminded me of sitting with The Greek Philosophers, Vol. 1 (of 2) — A Closer Reading, where the old thinkers feel less like monuments and more like friends still working things out. That lingering ache of unfinished thought stayed with me.