David Hume was born on April 26, 1711, at Edinburgh in Scotland. His parents were people of good standing in the community. His father belonged to a branch of the family of the Earl of Home (sometimes spelled Hume), and his mother was the daughter of Sir David Falconer, who had been president of the College of Justice. While David was still an infant, his father died, leaving him with one older brother and a sister in the care of his mother, a woman of strong and sturdy character. The family had at one time been considered quite well-to-do, but because of certain financial reverses it was necessary for them to practice the most rigid economy. They were able, however, to live respectably, and his mother, who was devoted to the welfare of her children, used every opportunity for the advancement of their education.
David's education began in the schools at Edinburgh. He followed the usual course of study, in which he achieved an average amount of success. At a comparatively early age, he developed a passion for literature and took to reading several of the great classics. Because of his studious disposition, sobriety, and industry, the members of his family thought he was especially fitted for the study of law. This he attempted but gave it up when it became apparent that he had a strong aversion to everything except philosophy and general learning. Abandoning the study of law, he turned all of his energies toward the pursuit of his new interest. His studies along this line were soon interrupted by a period of ill health which lasted for more than a year and which was diagnosed by his physician as a condition that was brought on by "the disease of the learned." Thinking that a different line of activity might be good for his health and hoping to strengthen the slender income of the family, he made a feeble try at business but with poor success.
Following his brief adventure into the field of business, Hume returned to his academic pursuits, and for this purpose he left his home in Scotland and spent three years in France, during which time he formulated the plans for, and began the composition of, what was destined to become one of his major philosophical publications, the Treatise of Human Nature. It was a work of considerable size and eventually was published in three parts, which dealt, respectively, with the subjects of the understanding, the passions, and morals.
