David Hume was a philosopher and part of the Scottish Enlightenment whose insights into free trade, commercial society, the dangers of public debt and the legitimacy of government continue to have a lasting influence. Learn more and visit EssentialDavidHume.org | Institute of Public Affairs

In the 18th century, the Scottish philosopher David Hume overturned one of philosophy’s oldest hierarchies. For centuries, thinkers from Plato to Descartes had claimed that reason must govern emotion, that logic defines what it means to be human. Hume challenged this directly. He argued that reason is not the ruler of the mind, but its servant. That our thoughts follow our feelings, and our judgments begin in passion. This was more than psychology; it was a revolution in moral philosophy. Hume b