CHAPTER 9
Hume, Bentham and Mill:
Subjectivism and Utilitarianism
David Hume (1711-1776)
David Hume was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1711. His
father died soon after his birth, and he was raised by his mother.
He was an exceptional student, and his mother, noting his
brilliance, hoped he would pursue a career in the law. Hume,
however, was interested only in philosophy and “general learn
ing.”
Hume did most of his early writing at a country retreat in
France. It was in France that he wrote his most famous work,
Treatise o f Human Nature, which was published in 1739. Al
though this book failed miserably, Hume continued writing. His
other major works, History o f England, History o f the House of
Tudor, and Inquiry Concerning the Principles o f Morals, which
he considered his best, were either unnoticed or criticized.
Political Discourse, written in 1752, was his only book to
receive any attention and success.
As he grew older, his literary reputation grew, and and
acceptance of his ideas grew also. He was invited to accept
various political posts in France and England, which drew him
away from the the reclusive life he led early in his career. His
influence in the areas of skepticism and empiricism was great,
and his historical writings are considered among the first signifi
cant works of their kind.
David Hume was a skeptic, who believed that certainty could
not be known. This skepticism was the product of his basic
premise, which states that all knowledge consists of perceptions
from which we obtain impressions and ideas. Impressions, says
Hume, are all the sensations which the mind acquires through
sense experience. Ideas he calls the “faint images” of these
impressions in thinking and reasoning. Impressions are of two
82