David Hume has 6 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 7 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 8 ratings. The most-rated is An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Summary
Published in 1748, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume's distillation of his mature philosophy. Addressing themes including the limits of human understanding, the compatibility of free will with determinism, weaknesses in the foundations of religion, and the appeal of skepticism, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is Hume's attempt to revise and clarify the ideas of his earlier A Treatise of Human Nature. A major work in the empiricist school of thought that included John Locke and George Berkeley, Hume's work influenced such later authors as Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, and Jeremy Bentham. Controversial and widely debated since its publication, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a classic of empiricist philosophy whose questions remain as relevant today as ever.
Public Domain (P)2011 Tantor
A Treatise of Human Nature
Summary
A Treatise of Human Nature is the first work ever published by David Hume, a man who revolutionized our understanding of philosophy. Hume was an advocate of the skeptical school of philosophy and a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He looks at the nature of human experience and cognition, showing that philosophy and reason can only be reflections of our nature. The naturalistic science of man that Hume expresses in this work forms the foundation for all later philosophical inquiry. Kant gave Hume credit for "awakening [him] from his dogmatic slumber". With this influence alone, Hume initiated the clearest critique of reason that Western civilization has produced in the history of philosophy. Hume's work formed the psychological foundation for modern psychology. He showed the limits and proper application of reason in human life. He also examined the passions and morality, showing how they arise in human experience and how they are connected to both reason and action. In essence, A Treatise of Human Nature is a thorough, well-considered, and inspired examination of human psychology and the implications that the structure of our thought and experience has on our knowledge. The full narration of Hume's text is preceded by a summary, which includes a biography, background information on the work, and an overview of the material covered. The summary also includes a synopsis and analysis of the text as well as an examination of its historical context, its social impact, and the criticisms it evoked. This work is suitable for students of philosophy or psychology or for anyone interested in coming to a deeper understanding of the nature of the mind.
Public Domain (P)2015 AudioLearn
Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Summary
David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion had not yet been published when he died in 1776. Even though the manuscript was mostly written during the 1750s, it did not appear until 1779. The subject itself was too delicate and controversial, and Hume's dialectical examination of religious knowledge was especially provocative. What should we teach young people about religion? The characters Demea, Cleanthes, and Philo passionately present and defend three sharply different answers to that question. Demea opens the dialogue with a position derived from René Descartes and Father Malebranche - God's nature is a mystery, but God's existence can be proved logically. Cleanthes attacks that view, both because it leads to mysticism and because it attempts the impossible task of trying to establish existence on the basis of pure reason, without appeal to sense experience. As an alternative, he offers a proof of both God's existence and God's nature based on the same kind of scientific reasoning established by Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. Taking a skeptical approach, Philo presents a series of arguments that question any attempt to use reason as a basis for religious faith. He suggests that human beings might be better off without religion. The dialogue ends without agreement among the characters, justifying Hume's choice of dialogue as the literary style for this topic. Born in Scotland, Hume challenges much of the philosophy that prevailed in Europe and England in the 17th and 18th century. He was especially critical of the rationalism developed by René Descartes and his followers. Although he wrote a number of influential essays (including "A Treatise of Human Nature" and "Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding"), his dialogues are especially well suited for the topic of religion. As his character Pamphilus says: "Any philosophical question that is so obscure and uncertain that human reason can reach no agreement about it, if it is treated at all, seems to lead us naturally to the style of dialogue."
©2020 SAGA Egmont (P)2020 SAGA Egmont
David Hume Collection
Summary
Explore the ideas and legacy of one of the 18th century’s most influential minds. Do you want to discover more about the reality around you, and your place in it? Are you interested in uncovering the classical contributions to philosophy made by David Hume? Or do you want to understand why his work shaped the course of modern philosophy? Then keep reading. Inside this brilliant three-in-one book collection, you’ll uncover a wealth of philosophical insights about truth, faith, and the universe around us. Drawing on the arguments and musings of the famed philosopher David Hume, this book reveals his ideas on the questions that define our very existence. Inside this collection, you’ll discover: A Treatise of Human Nature, revered as one of the most influential works in philosophy and credited as a fundamental part of philosophical ideas including empiricism, scepticism, and naturalism. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, a succinct, profound, and impactful adaptation of Hume’s earlier work, explaining his ideas in a more easily-digestible way. Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, a thought-provoking discussion on the nature and properties of God, told through the perspectives of three debating characters. Brought to life in this collection for a modern audience, David Hume’s work has stood the test of time to resonate with people across the ages. Whether you’re searching for answers, or if you want to unveil the history behind much of modern-day naturalism and empiricism, then this book is a must-listen. Scroll up and buy now to explore David Hume’s philosophical legacy today.
©2020 Montgomery Providence Publishing (P)2020 Montgomery Providence Publishing
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion
Summary
Entertaining and insightful, David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and The Natural History of Religion are considered to be among the most important philosophical works on the topic of religion. Each investigates the formation and consequences of religious belief: Taking the form of a Platonic dialogue between three speakers (a sceptic, an empiricist, and a theologian/mystic), the first work scrutinizes the various arguments for the existence of God; while the second, which follows the rise of polytheism and its transformation to deism, provides a history on the development of religious thought. Written nearly a hundred years before Darwin tackled the argument of design, both works are notable for their radical thinking and together form one of the most devastating attacks on the phenomenon of religion. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Public Domain (P)2020 Naxos Audiobooks
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Summary
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779) by the Scottish philosopher David Hume examines whether one can rationally come to any conclusions about God's nature. Three philosophers, Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes, debate this question in a series of dialogues. While all three agree that a god exists, they hold different views on God's nature. Demea, who argues for orthodoxy, insists that one cannot come to know the nature of God through reason. Philo, the skeptic, agrees with Demea that God is incomprehensible and offers convincing arguments for this position. Opposing them, Cleanthes the empirical theist argues that one can come to know about God by reasoning from the evidence in nature. Some of Hume’s themes and arguments are inspired by Cicero's De Natura Deorum.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks