ORIGINS OF MODERNITY

philosophy

Hume, David (1711-1776)
Philosophical essays concerning human understanding.
London : Printed for A. Millar, 1748.

David Hume's first great philosophical work, the Treatise (1739-40), went virtually unrecognised. Hume claimed that it fell "dead-born from the press". He therefore attempted to recast the work in a more accessible form. The result was his Philosophical Essays concerning Human Understanding which is a reworking of Book I of the Treatise and was published in 1748. It was later renamed as An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding and today is known simply as Hume's Enquiry. Note the echo of Locke's Essay in the title.