David Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is the
definitive statement of the greatest philosopher in the English
language. His arguments in support of reasoning from experience, and
against the "sophistry and illusion"of religiously inspired
philosophical fantasies, caused controversy in the eighteenth century
and are strikingly relevant today, when faith and science continue to
clash.
The Enquiry considers the origin and processes of human thought,
reaching the stark conclusion that we can have no ultimate
understanding of the physical world, or indeed our own minds. In either
sphere we must depend on instinctive learning from experience,
recognizing our animal nature and the limits of reason. Hume's calm
and open-minded skepticism thus aims to provide a new basis for
science, liberating us from the "superstition" of false metaphysics and
relegion. His Enquiry remains one of the best introductions to the
study of philosophy, and his edition places it in its historical
and philosophical context.