Question 1

True or false: Hume's work 'A Treatise of Human Nature' was a huge success when first published.

Accepted Answer

False. The 'Treatise' initially fell 'dead-born from the press,' as Hume put it, receiving little attention and failing commercially.

Question 2

True or false: Hume was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Accepted Answer

True. He was born in Edinburgh on April 26, 1711, and spent most of his life in Scotland, though he also lived in France for a time.

Question 3

True or false: Hume was an atheist who openly denied the existence of God.

Accepted Answer

False. Hume was a skeptic, not an outright atheist; he criticized religious arguments but publicly avoided explicit atheism to evade persecution.

Question 4

True or false: David Hume never married and had no known romantic relationships.

Accepted Answer

True. Hume remained a lifelong bachelor, with no evidence of romantic attachments, focusing instead on his philosophical and historical work.

Question 5

True or false: Hume wrote a best-selling history of England that made him wealthy.

Accepted Answer

True. His 'History of England' was a massive commercial success, securing his financial independence and fame in his own lifetime.

Question 6

True or false: Hume believed that reason, not emotion, should guide all human actions.

Accepted Answer

False. Hume famously argued that 'reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions,' emphasizing emotions over logic in driving behavior.

Question 7

True or false: Hume was a scientific materialist who believed the mind is just the brain.

Accepted Answer

False. Hume was not a materialist; he was an empiricist who focused on perceptions and ideas, but he did not reduce the mind to mere physical matter.

Question 8

True or false: Hume was a close friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Accepted Answer

True. They were friends for a time, but Rousseau later became paranoid and publicly broke off the relationship, accusing Hume of plotting against him.

David Hume Trivia Questions