An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (Oxford World's Classics) By David Hume, Peter Millican (Editor) ISBN: 9780199211586 Published: 2007 Number of Pages: 238 Binding: Paperback

Pricing & Availability: Additional Details: Product Type: Book Publisher: Oxford University Press Description: 'Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.' Thus ends David Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, 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 scepticism thus aims to provide a new basis for science, liberating us from the 'superstition' of false metaphysics and religion. His Enquiry remains one of the best introductions to the study of philosophy, and this edition places it in its historical and philosophical context.

International Standard Book Number: 0199211582: 0199211582 (alk. paper): 9780199211586 (alk. paper)

Level of Bibliographic Control and Coding Detail: ml

Library of Congress Call Number
   - Classification number: B1481
   - Item number: .M55 2007

Dewey Decimal Classification Number
   - Edition number: 22
   - Classification number: 121

Main Entry - Personal Name
   - Personal name: Hume, David,
   - Personal name: HUME, DAVID, 1711-1776.
   - Dates associated with a name: 1711-1776.

Uniform Title: Philosophical essays concerning human understanding

Title Statement
   - Title: An enquiry concerning human understanding /
   - Title: ENQUIRY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING; ED. BY PETER MILLICAN.
   - Statement of responsibility, etc.: David Hume ; edited with an introduction and notes by Peter Millican.

Publication, Distribution, etc. (Imprint)
   - Place of publication, distribution, etc.: OXFORD
   - Place of publication, distribution, etc.: Oxford ;
   - Place of publication, distribution, etc.: Toronto :
   - Name of publisher, distribution, etc.: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
   - Name of publisher, distribution, etc.: Oxford University Press,
   - Date of publication, distribution, etc.: 2007
   - Date of publication, distribution, etc.: 2007.

Physical Description
   - Extent: lxv, 238 p. ;
   - Dimensions: 20 cm.

Series Statement: Oxford world's classics: OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSICS.

Bibliography, etc. Note
   - Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. [lxi]-lxii) and indexes.

Subject Added Entry - Topical Term
   - Topical term or geographic name entry element: Knowledge, Theory of.

Added Entry - Personal Name
   - Personal name: Millican, P. F.
   - Fuller form of name: (Peter F.)

Series Added Entry - Uniform Title
   - Uniform title: Oxford world's classics (Oxford University Press)