Book · 1748
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
by David Hume
Hume spends one slim book dismantling cause-and-effect into nothing but expectation and habit, and undergrad syllabi still assign it as homework.
What does Reddit think of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding?
Twenty-four mentions in seven years, almost all of them in r/askphilosophy syllabus threads rather than standalone discussion. The pattern repeats: someone asks what to read first in philosophy, and Hume shows up fourth or fifth behind Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and Descartes' Meditations (↑56, ↑47). One answer (↑35) recommends starting with Descartes for pacing and treats this as the fallback, 'if not that.' The book's own line gets quoted on its own merits too: 'Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man' (↑42), detached from any list and standing as the single most upvoted mention in the dataset. A companion text, the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, gets called accessible 'even for its age' (↑34), a comparison that quietly makes this one sound like the harder read. Reddit assigns it. Nobody's raving.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Empiricism versus rationalist certainty
- · Causation as habit, not necessity
- · Hume's place in the undergraduate philosophy canon
- · Skepticism about miracles and religion
- · Reading order: Hume before or after Descartes
Common praise
- + The standalone line 'be still a man amidst all your philosophy' gets quoted on its own merit (↑42), no syllabus required.
- + It has a fixed seat in r/askphilosophy's recurring undergraduate reading lists, appearing alongside Plato and Aristotle without hedging (↑56, ↑47).
- + It comes up as an entry point for readers trying to build a personal philosophical system rather than just check a box (↑65).
Common criticism
- − One answer (↑35) recommends starting with Descartes' Meditations for pacing and offers this book only as the fallback: 'if not that.'
- − The companion text, Hume's own Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, gets called accessible 'even for its age' (↑34), which by comparison doesn't say much for this one's readability.
- − Almost every mention places it inside a list of five or six required texts; the sample has no example of someone discussing it purely on its own.
Who it's for
Undergraduate reading lists on r/askphilosophy put this fourth or fifth, trailing Plato and Descartes, so treat it as a waypoint rather than a starting line. If a syllabus format sounds tedious, the standalone Hume quote about staying human amid your own philosophizing works as a faster gut check. Building your own system of belief from scratch instead of just checking off a canon? One answer treats this as exactly the kind of foundational text that job requires.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“> I want to write down my own philosophical system on a book but don't know how to start The place to start is to figure out where your system came from. You did not craft your ideas *ex nihilo*. You live within a cultural zeitgeist influenced by the philosophical ideas that came before you. Ove…
“These are the one's I read during graduation: Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics, Plato - Republic, Descarte - Discourse on the Method, Hume - An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Kant - Prolegomena to Future Metaphysics. I've also studied other rationalists like Spinoza, Leibniz and the empiri…
“Off the top of my head, these are the texts I've had to read in my first year as an undergraduate in the UK (not fully, but extracts most of the time): Plato - Republic Plato - Theaetetus Plato - Parmenides Aristotle - The Nichomachean Ethics Epicurus - The Art of Happiness Augustine - Confess…
“Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man. - David Hume, *Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding* 1.6
“This is a lot to cover in a post so I'll keep it schematic, probably a low amount of detail. One side is the historical approach, which is preferable is you have patience. I'm in a graduate program in philosophy and in my free time I'm reading through the history of philosophy myself. The other side…
“I'd suggest Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy. It's usually what my university uses to get people into reading philosophical work. It is also divided up pretty well, so the pacing isn't overwhelming. If not that, Humes An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. If you really insist on Kant…
“From the pragmatists themselves: 1. You've already hit on some of the big essays by Peirce, but I will say that *Some Consequences of Four Incapacities* is particularly memorable for its opening critique of Cartesian doubt. In its place Peirce suggests that we "begin with all the prejudices which w…
“For older (that is, early modern era) writings, I would highly recommend: ​ \- David Hume's *Dialogues concerning Natural Religion*. This work is quite accessible even for its age, and has been very influential, even outside of philosophy (I recall reading somewhere that Darwin was a fan of…
“If your uni has a decent student association you might want to check out their philosophy society if they have one. That will give you the opportunity to visit some guest lectures (which are always worth looking out for at other unis if you live in a big city. You might also like to sign yourself up…
““Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.” David Hume, *Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding*
“Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is one of the best, most rigorous, most abstruse pieces of philosophy that I have ever worked through. I read it once in 2015 or so and it changed the way I think for good. Hume is now one of my favorite philosophers of all time. His thinking in the Enqu…
“The following all strike me as clearly written and fairly easy to understand: * Descartes, *Meditations on First Philosophy* (often sold in a volume with other works too which might be less easily digested, so make sure it is the *Meditations* that you actually read). * JS Mill, *On Liberty* * Hume…
“You should check out Hume's views on scepticism. There's some great lines in his *Treatise* but you might benefit from reading his distinction (in *Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding*) between *mitigated* scepticism and *excessive*. The latter is what you're describing here and what seems so stu…
“I would not jump directly to Kant. I would read Hume first if you want to read Kant, because Kant is responding directly to Hume’s arguments in the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. It might also be worth making a stopover at the Meditations, since Descartes sets the epistemological agenda of …
“Tell him to check out David Hume! He is, first of all, an excellent philosopher. But more than that he is known for having found a way to also be happy. He famously said, "Be a philosopher,’ advised Hume, ‘but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man." Maybe get him a copy of *An* *Enquiry Conce…
Convinced? Pick up An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding — counted from the comments, not curated.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding — frequently asked
What does r/askphilosophy think of An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding?+
It's canon, not conversation. The twenty-two r/askphilosophy mentions almost all sit inside reading-list threads rather than standalone reviews.
Should I read An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding before Descartes' Meditations?+
Reddit says the other way around. One answer (↑35) recommends Descartes' Meditations first because the pacing suits newcomers better, offering Hume's Enquiry as the fallback: 'if not that.' No comment in the sample argues for reading Hume first.
Is An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding part of the standard philosophy canon on Reddit?+
Yes, consistently. It shows up in r/askphilosophy reading-list threads next to Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes (↑56, ↑47) without anyone questioning its inclusion. The debate in this data isn't whether to read it. It's where in the stack to put it.
Is An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding harder to read than Hume's other work?+
By implication, yes. One commenter (↑34) calls Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 'quite accessible even for its age' when recommending it as an early-modern starting point, a contrast the same thread doesn't extend to the Enquiry, which keeps showing up as required, not easy, reading.