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René Descartes Publishes "The Discourse on the Method"
René Descartes (1596-1650) published Discourse on Method in 1637 as part of a work containing sections on optics, geometry, and meteorology. The fourth section, the Discourse, outlined the basis for a new method of investigating knowledge.This event is sometimes referred to as the start of the Age of Enlightenment. -
René Descartes Publishes "Meditations on First Philosophy"
Meditations on First Philosophy is a philosophical treatise by René Descartes first published in 1641 (in Latin). -
René Descartes Publishes "Principles of Philosophy"
Principia philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy), a Latin textbook at first intended by Descartes to replace the Aristotelian textbooks then used in universities. A French translation, Principes de philosophie by Claude Picot, under the supervision of Descartes, appeared in 1647 with a letter-preface to Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia. -
John Locke Publishes "A Letter Concerning Toleration"
John Locke is listed among the greatest Enlightenment writers and as a major influence on David Hume. -
John Locke Publishes "An Essay Cocerning Human Understanding"
First appearing in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke concerns the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. The essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy, and influenced many enlightenment philosophers, such as David Hume and George Berkeley. -
John Locke Publishes "Some Thoughts Concerning Education"
The essay was one of the principal sources of empiricism in modern philosophy, and influenced many enlightenment philosophers, such as David Hume and George Berkeley. -
George Berkeley Publishes "An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision"
In 1709, Berkeley published his first major work, An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, in which he discussed the limitations of human vision and advanced the theory that the proper objects of sight are not material objects, but light and colour. -
George Berkeley Publishes "A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge"
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge is a 1710 work by Anglo-Irish Empiricist philosopher George Berkeley. This book largely seeks to refute the claims made by his contemporary John Locke about the nature of human perception. -
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The Life of Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment. -
The Death of Joseph Hume
His father died just after David's second birthday, “leaving me, with an elder brother and a sister under the care of our Mother, a woman of singular Merit, who, though young and handsome, devoted herself to the rearing and educating of her Children.” -
George Berkeley Publishes "Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous"
Three important concepts discussed in the Three Dialogues are perceptual relativity, the conceivability/master argument ("master argument" was coined by André Gallois[1]), and Berkeley's phenomenalism. -
David Hume Enrolls in the University of Edinburgh
About 1723 he entered the University of Edinburgh, and, according to his Autobiography, "passed through the ordinary course of education with success." His letters show that when he returned to Ninewells about three years later he had acquired a fair knowledge of Latin, slight acquaintance with Greek, and a literary taste inclining to "books of reasoning and philosophy, and to poetry and the polite authors." -
Welcome Hume, Home
David changes his name from “Home” to “Hume”. -
A Kind of History of My Life
"A Kind of History of my life," published. It was a letter to an unnamed physician. -
Treatise: Beginning
Starts writing “Treatise of Human Nature”. The first volume of three. -
Treatise Vol. Two
Hume publishes, "Of the Passions." It is the second book of the Treatise. -
Treatise Vol. Three
Third volume of “Treatise of Human Nature” is published. The trilogy is now finished. -
Essays Moral and Political
A collection of pieces written and published over many years, though most were collected together in 1753–4. Many of the essays are focused on topics in politics and economics, though they also range over questions of aesthetic judgement, love, marriage and polygamy, and the demographics of ancient Greece and Rome, to name just a few of the topics considered. -
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Published posthumously by his nephew, David Hume the Younger. Being a discussion among three fictional characters concerning the nature of God, and is an important portrayal of the argument from design.